Anti Climax
by Dr. Sipp
Summary: Ch2. With Knuckles kidnapped, Sonic has no choice but to seek out Metal Sonic on Angel Island, and to protect the Master Emerald from him. This would be easier if the Chaotix was organized and not half convinced that he's the attacker. Rewritten. [KatC]
1. Prologue

Knuckles, the Chaotix, etc, are © to Sega.  
Az Spyre, and any other characters are © to me.

This is the first story in my series. This particular part is the end of the Knuckles Chaotix adapt I'll never write. So it explains things.

Please read sipp . kiwiwolf . net / writing / katc / background.htm (remove the spaces) before reading this.

**Anti-Climax**

"_Cowards die many times before their deaths,  
The valiant taste death but once._"

**Prologue**

Metallic claws met gloved hands.  
Mighty the Armadillo blocked Metal Sonic's assault, the claws curled around his wrists cruelly. He snapped a leg up. The leg connected with the metallix's belly, and Metal Sonic flew back.  
Sparks flew.  
Digital red eyes narrowed.

The armadillo smiled grimly.

"Getting a bit rusty, Metal?"

It was the first time he spoke throughout the entire fight.

"You are not humorous," spat the robot.

"I wasn't trying to be."

Around him, Knuckles the Echidna and the rest of the Chaotix, stood.

Knuckles, a well-built crimson echidna observed the fight dispassionately, arms folded, and scowling.

Espio, a purple chameleon was a bit more enthusiastic. He was smiling.

Vector the Crocodile and Charmy Bee were cheering their friend on.

Metal Sonic's engines flared, thrusting him into the air. He stopped only when twenty feet above his enemy.

Mighty glanced upwards, calculating the robot's next move.

Metal didn't move.

"I need to get him down quickly," the armadillo thought of Sonic's antics, then grinned.

"Oy, toaster," he made the kiss-my-rear-end sign.

He saw Metal's eyes flash, and heard an enraged snarl as Metal Sonic swooped down, like an eagle.

"Perfect."

Claws outstretched, Metal hurtled through the air, towards his prey.

Mighty curled a fist back.

This was it…

Five feet between them.  
Four.  
Three.  
The armadillo let his fist fly.  
Two.  
One.  
Impact.

The robot seized the armadillo's throat just as his hand encountered the engine intake.  
The force of the punch sent Metal flying, his clawed fingers scraped off of the boy, leaving slash marks. Metal crashed into the ground. Mighty stood up, feeling his marred neck gingerly.

"This ends, NOW."

The teenager paced towards the robot, who was lying motionlessly.  
His red eyes were dim.  
The faintest of smiles crossed the mecha's face.  
Knuckles saw it, and stiffened.  
The rest of the Chaotix watched in anticipation.  
Mighty kept going.  
Metal Sonic opened his arm compartment, and pulled something out.  
Smooth, green.  
A power stone.

"I believe the correct saying, is: If you cannot beat them…"

One flick of the mechanical wrist, and the power stone flew across the distance, before the armadillo.  
It blazed to life.

"No!"

The source of the shout, Knuckles, began to run towards Mighty.

Metal openly smiled, and jetted away.

At the armadillo's feet, the power stone began to glow hotly. It jetted into the air, directly in front of him.

The air around them darkened and began to swirl. A vortex appeared, drawing the boy in.

"No!"

The Void was apparent now, the crystal floating in the midst.

"NO!"

Mighty disappeared completely, and Knux shoved a spiked fist into the power stone.

Fine crack lines appeared on the surface.

Then, an explosion.

It engulfed the echidna whole.

---

Azaelin Nymphadora Tarrun Supaya – also known as Az Spyre, jolted upright in her seat.

"So good of you to join us, Miss. Spyre. I repeat, Miss. Spyre, which trigonometry sign do you use to find the adjacent angle using a theta angle?"

"Sin," muttered the hybrid.

"Correct. I'll tell you what, Spyre, why don't you teach the class? You seem to know everything, judging by your constant desire to sleep and/or daydream in this class."

Az flushed and bit her lip, and a few of the other girls giggled.  
Classic high school system, thought Az, ignoring them.

Someone had entered the Void- she could feel it.

"Sir?"

The teacher turned.

"Yes, Miss. Spyre?"

"May I go to the washroom?"

"No."

"But, sir, it's an emergency!"

"Five minutes, Spyre."

"Yes sir."

She shuffled out of the classroom, discreetly making a face at them as she did. It was a bit of immaturity she could afford.

Despite the knot that was forming in her stomach from the thought a Mobian in the Void, she was actually in a good mood.

Once outside, she ran. Her first stop was her home, where she paused to grab her brother's prized possession- his airboard.

She could hear her mother snarling after her as she left, and she clutched the airboard to her chest.

Eucalyptus had won that airboard at a competition. It was of very good quality, and it had been his most sacred possession.  
He had given it to her, before Dokkun had taken him away…  
That had been years ago…  
Az snapped back to reality, switching the airboard on. It flared to life, jetting into the air. She smiled, and tipped the board up, as it shot into the air.

Aquacity was a beautiful place. The majority of the people weren't exactly hybrid-loving, to put it lightly, but the scenery was breathtaking.

She loved it.

Though she lived outside of it, in a small town named Nikel, she enjoyed visiting it, or rather, flying through it. Although she had a fear of heights, being in the air, and generally falling, for some reason she didn't mind being on the airboard. Probably because she had used it so many times…

She dipped down into the city, as residents darted by her vision. There were huge aquariums in the buildings, and non-sentient fish resided there.  
Down, on the streets, sprinklers and fountains shot water into the air, in beautiful patterns.

She _loved_ it.

Maybe not the residents, but the place… it was beautiful. Az had not traveled all that much in her life, but of all the places she had seen, Aquacity was her favourite.  
The wind whipped at her hair as she shot through the city.

Her brother had shown her this route…

She exited Aquacity, directing herself towards the Aquatic Ruins.  
The Ruins were Aquacity's main tourist attraction. Well, they had been, until months ago… Dr. Robotnik had attacked the Ruins, and had set it up as his base of operations, turning non-sentient animals and people alike into his robotic slaves.  
Mobius's hero, the legendary Sonic the Hedgehog, and his sidekick, Miles "Tails" Prower had defeated him.  
But robots still lurked.  
And now, for the most part, it was abandoned.

And Az Spyre loved it.

It was without a doubt the best part of where she lived. She did most of her thinking there, most of her homework, she did all her training there.  
She went there to escape her family, the people of her city…. everything.  
It was her refuge from all her problems.

She used the Aquatic Ruins when she went to the Void.  
And that's what she had to do now.  
She hid the airboard behind one of the enormous pillars, then, concentrated, holding her arms out. Sure enough, a portal formed. She entered.

"The Guardian has arrived," one of the demons announced, as the others looked up from their prey; a battered, nearly dead armadillo known as Mighty.

"Welcome, Guardian," rumbled one of the more important demons.

"_It's the little Supaya_," it was a whisper, but somehow carried well.

Az Spyre gave no reply, as her eyes searched for, and then located the other Mobian.

"Guardian," interjected the demon smoothly, drawing her attention back to him, "For centuries we have been imprisoned here. We wish you Mobians no harm, we only wish to be free."

"No, harm, huh? Why'd you attack that one?"

"You must understand," he remained calm and pleading, "My people are restless. Please, set us free."

"No chance."

"Guardian…"

But the others had heard enough. They let out blood-curdling screams and rushed at her.

And then, she disappeared.

The demons blinked and whipped around in confusion.

"She's half chameleon, you idiots!"

She appeared next to Mighty, who groaned.

"Shh," soothed the hybrid, slipping her arms under his torso. She took a breath, inhaling sharply, but couldn't seem to lift him.

"You had a big breakfast, didn't you?" she mumbled, trying to drag him away from the fray.

A portal formed nearby, and she breathed some form of thanks to the higher power, then grinned.

A cry rang out from the demons. They had found her.  
One of them let loose a blast of dark energy.

She tried to dodge, but it seared across her shoulder, and along her arm.

She cursed.

"_I'm infected_."

Mighty was now gone, Az had pushed him through the portal. He did, however, recall her face. Her bright lime-green eyes, her pale complexion, the unkempt reddish-blonde hair, the armadillo muzzle and the chameleon horn.

The portal closed.

Az collapsed to her knees, panting, clutching at her arm, from which black liquid was oozing out.

The demons surrounded her, grinning. Her pupils expanded and dilated from the pain. She was only barely conscious, and on her hands and knees, breathing harshly.

They lunged.

---

There was a loud crash as the beaten form of Mighty the Armadillo collided with hard, cold cement.


	2. Chapter 1: Along the Line

Mighty, etc, are © to Sega.  
Enerjak, and the Dark Legion are © to Archie.  
Eliza and all other fancharacters are © to me.  
**Eliza is pronounced é-lee-za**, the other pronunciation is oogly.  
Please keep in mind that this is my version, so while there may be elements from, for example, Archie, this is not Archie-verse. Also, I have changed things, such as the histories of Enerjak and Knuckles.

Please read sipp . kiwiwolf . net / writing / katc / background.htm (remove the spaces) before reading this.

**Chapter 1: Along the Line **

Eliza the Echidna pushed the rook forwards.

"Check mate."

"I hate chess," was her companion's sour reply.

The other opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by the sudden sound of a loud crash, which emitted from the balcony.

"What was that?"

Feeling bold, the echidna snatched up a flashlight, and ventured towards the source of the commotion.

"Hold on, Eliza!" protested the other girl, a bright yellow chameleon.

She picked up a bat, and followed the echidna.

The door snapped open.  
Rain splattered against the balcony.  
Eagle-spread across the ground, was an armadillo. He was badly injured, covered with slash marks and bruises, bleeding.  
The baseball bat slipped from the chameleon's grasp, and clattered against the ground noisily.

"Outsider," she choked.

Eliza was not listening. She knelt beside him, and removed her gloves.

"What are you doing!" the yellow girl hissed, "It's an outsider!"

"He's hurt," she noted softly, pressing two delicate fingers to his throat and finding a pulse.  
His chest rose and fell.  
At her touch, his eyes fluttered open.

"Knux?"

No, Knux had purple eyes… This… This was a girl… blue eyes…

He passed out.

"Are you okay?" whispered the girl, Maryanne, fearfully.

"What's a 'Knux'?" inquired the smaller girl.

"He's an OUTSIDER," Maryanne repeated, louder.

"It sounded like he fell from the sky…"

She glanced upwards. Dark clouds crowded the sky and pellets of rain poured down.

"Outsiders are forbidden," said Maryanne, her voice barely above a whisper, "Rattle will have you executed if he finds out."

Passionate sapphire eyes met ebony ones.

"What about him? Are we just going to let him die? LOOK at him, Maryanne."

The chameleon complied, glancing at the armadillo. She bit her lip, and sighed.

"What are we going to do?"

"He needs a doctor."

"He can't-"

The echidna snapped her fingers.

"Sil! He'll know what to do!"

"We had better move quickly."

Maryanne bent down, picked him up, and slung him over her shoulder. He didn't stir.

"Let's go."

Eliza hoisted herself over the railing, and jumped. She landed, maybe feet below. Maryanne followed suit.

They ran.

---

"I hate rain," grumbled Bruiser, one of the Sello watchmen.

"I hate night shifts, period," muttered his comrade, Nepean.

"They're all sheep anywho. Too scared of us to try anything."

A snort.

Nepean yawned, then blinked.

"'Ey, Bruiser?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you see anything?"

"Nope, not a thing."

"I could swear I saw two people running…"

They glanced into the distance.

"Your eyes must have been playing tricks on you. Who would be stupid enough to be out in this weather?"

"Us?"

"That's different."

---

"That was too close," murmured Maryanne.

"We're almost there!" announced the echidna.

The lights were on in the house. Soaking wet, they twisted the doorknob, and entered. Sil didn't lock his doors.

"Come in," instructed the robot, as the two girls pushed through the door frame, both soaking wet.

"You two shouldn't be running around in this weather," he commented quietly, his digital silver eyes locking onto the armadillo, "Who's that?"

"He fell from the sky!"

"Don't be stupid, Eliza, armadillos don't fall from the sky!"

"…What's an armadillo?"

Sil started to explain, but Maryanne fixed him with a piercing look and Eliza interjected.

"Well, we found him on the balcony..."

Sil nodded.

"Follow me."

He closed the door, and passed over to one of the empty rooms.

"Lay him down on the bed."

Maryanne did so, relieved to lose the extra weight.

The robot examined him for about a minute, in which there was nothing but silence, then turned to the other two.

"He'll be fine."

Eliza, reassured, dried herself off, then handed the towel to the chameleon, who grinned, seemingly tired of being cold and wet.

"Give me my medical kit, Eliza."

"Right away."

She dug through the closet, located the kit, then handed it over to the robot.

"Now, go back to Maryanne's home."

"What?"

"If any of the Sellos find out you've been out past the curfew, there will be trouble."

"But-"

"Go."

"Come on," the chameleon took the smaller girl by the arm, then camouflaged,  
leading her out.

---

Swollen eyelids parted, revealing disoriented blue eyes. A moan parted from stinging lips – and that in itself made the pain worse.

"Welcome," greeted Sil calmly.

A cough followed the moan.

Sil extracted a spoonful of medical syrup, placing in the armadillo's mouth, let the liquid trickle down his throat.

"Where… am I?" croaked the armadillo, trying to swallow.

"Elmridge Village, near Hill Top Mines."

"Hill Top?" echoed the armadillo, opening his dry mouth.

The name was familiar, it evoked memories of one of his old homes.

"Yes, Hill Top," Sil poured some water into a glass, and with a gentle hand, pressed it to his lips.

Mighty grasped it shakily, but Sil did the work, tipping it on a slope. After the contents of the glass had been downed, Mighty swallowed.

"Better?" questioned the robot.

He nodded, then paused, as the memories and recollection flowed back to him.

"How did I get here?"

"That is unknown. Eliza informed me that you fell from somewhere, and landed on her balcony."

"Eliza?" the name was strange and foreign to his ears, "Is that the Knuckles girl? Where is she? Can I see her?"

"First of all," interjected the robot, curtly, "She is most definitely not 'the Knuckles girl'. Her name is Eliza, call her that. She's away, you may see her later."

"But-"

"She does not know Knuckles, do not mention him to her."

There was silence. Then a sheepish, "Oh."

"I will explain later, when you are better."

Though the armadillo had only known the robot for a short time, he knew by now that protesting was useless. He lay down.

"Now sleep."

He obeyed.

When Mighty next awoke, it was daytime. His eyes roved about the room.  
It was simple. There was a desk on his side, but otherwise it was barren. His scrutiny stopped at the doorway, for there was now a girl standing there, the echidna he had seen before.  
She was watching him from afar, her pose showing uncertainty and meekness.

After a moment of watching her watch him, he spoke.

"I won't hurt you, you know."

She jumped a bit. She had thought he was asleep, but she remained quiet, staying rooted to the spot.

He didn't quite understand her fear. He couldn't hurt her, he was badly injured, and hardly intimidating to begin with.

"Come here."

She was too far away to get a proper look at.

She gazed at him a moment longer, then obliged.

The soft pitter-patter of her footsteps echoed through the little room, as she directed herself closer towards him.  
She halted a few meters away from him, hesitating.

"C'mon." he coaxed, "I don't bite."

When she made no move, he sighed, and lost interest. He turned over.

Two emotions were conflicted inside of the echidna- fear, and curiosity.

Curiosity won out, and she padded closer to him. Once there, she stared, then, uncertainly, reached out to touch his ears.

He knew she was there, but did nothing, not wanting to frighten her off.

"Hi," she said shyly, fingers now clamped down on his ears, poking them experimentally. He twitched them in her direction, and she let go, abruptly, startled.

"So you can talk," he grinned, "What's your name?"

He knew it already, but perhaps asking her would calm her.

"Eliza."

"You can call me Mighty."

There was silence. And then she spoke, again.

"What are you?"

"Hm," he thought, shifting so that he could look at her, "Maybe that's why she's scared."

"I'm an armadillo."

"Oh," she didn't look very convinced.

He blinked, meeting her eyes.  
She was small. She was only about as tall as the bed- he estimated she'd go up to his thigh- and rather skinny, too. It was a little concerning. She bore resemblance to Knux, however- her fur was a bright red. He even saw the white crescent on her chest, she must have had some sort of connection with him.  
Her eyes, however, were what really separated them. While Knux's were hardened, slanted, and a cold amethyst, her were wide, bright, innocent, and a simple blue.

"How old are you?" he kept his tone gentle.

"I'll be ten soon," she responded nonchalantly, and he blinked, yet again, in shock. This girl was full of surprises, apparently.

"I'm small for my age," she added, in a quieter tone. Understatement of the century… it was unnatural.

"That's okay, so am I. Not nearly as much as you, though."

She smiled, the beam lighting up her face.

"I don't know why they talk so badly about you."

His eyebrows raised slightly.

"Who?"

"That's enough," Sil's voice cut in, "Eliza, you're falling behind on the curriculum, you can talk to him on your own time."

She flushed in embarrassment, muttered a quick goodbye, and sped off to finish her math problems.

Sil regarded him with a calculating look.

"So?"

"Cute."

Over the next few days, he didn't see much of her, she was busy at work, trying to catch up. When he did see her however, she seemed to getting more comfortable around him, in fact, she even started sitting on the bed, next to him. Apart from her, Sil, and the occasional visit of Maryanne, who refused to come near him, he stayed alone in the room, recovering. During his alone periods, he spent some of time trying to figure out Eliza. She seemed like a shy child, yet, when with him she would become more talkative. Along with being an echidna and schooled by Sil, he had a suspicion that she was outcasted. So, on one of her visits, he decided to test his theories.

"You're awfully quiet for a girl of your age," he noted, glancing at her evenly.

She didn't answer for about a minute, but when she did, her head tipped down, and her voice took a slightly bitter tone.

"No one wants to hear me talk."

So he had been right.

"I do."

She looked up at him in mild surprise, then a little smile spread across her face.

"Then I will."

He decided to push his luck.

"So…" he worded his thoughts carefully, "Why do you think no one wants to hear you talk?"

She raised her eyes to meet his; hers seemed to be searching him, evaluating him.

"They… don't. They hate me, I don't know why… it might be because… well, there aren't any echidnas here…" she trailed off, hugging her knees.

"Kid…" he slipped a finger under her chin, tilting her head up to gaze back into her eyes, "You're no different from anyone else. Anyone who says otherwise isn't worth your time."

"But- they all do."

"Then they're all idiots. Did they tease you?"

She nodded. "That's why I'm homeschooled."

As he had expected. He sighed.

"I know how you feel."

"You do?" shock was evident on her face.

"Yeah," he slid off the bed, and stood, "Get up for a sec."

She obeyed, expression puzzled as she watched him.  
He slipped a hand under the frame of the bed, then in one fluid motion, lifted into the air.  
Eliza gave an audible squeak and jumped back.

"It invoked more fear than anything, but I was still outcasted," he set the bed back on the ground, and sat.

She stood, rooted to the ground, looking at him fearfully.

"And you're terrified now," he thought aloud, sighing, "Great."

"That…was…" half-whispered the echidna, "A really heavy bed."

"Yes."

When she didn't move, he spoke up again.

"You didn't wonder why I was called 'Mighty'?"

"I did… but… I didn't… expect…"

"Look, kid, don't be afraid, I've got no intention of hurting you."

This seemed to calm her, for she returned to his side, slowly, but more relaxed.

"Are all outsiders as strange as you?"

He laughed.

"Nope, I'm one of a kind."

"Eliza," cut in Sil, "It's ten thirty, and past your bed time."

Reluctantly, she said her goodbyes, then padded over to Sil and gave him a quick hug around the leg. He seemed to smile, then patted her gently on the head.

Then, as quickly as she had started, she was gone, not wanting to disappoint the robot further.

"That's certainly… an interesting child."

Sil nodded, then pulled out a chair and sat.

"You are Mighty the Armadillo of the Chaotix, are you not?"

"Yes, I am."

The robot paused for a second.

"What I am about to tell you is of strictest confidence. You must promise to keep this quiet. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"This town… is not what it seems. You are familiar with Doctor Robotnik and his methods, are you not?"

"Yes… but what does that have to do with this?"

"These people are not normal people. They are experiments."

The armadillo's eyes widened considerably.

"Everyone?"

"Everyone," repeated Sil, "This is a social prison. It has one sole purpose – to harvest Project Chaos."

"Project Chaos?"

"You know of the hierarchy of Doctor Robotnik's experiments, do you not?"

"Yes, I do… experiments are the base ones, Projects are the experiments handpicked by Doctor Robotnik for direct experimentation… and the Eggman's Own are the elite of the Projects."

"Correct."

"Project Chaos… Who is it? And is it just a Project or an Eggman's Own?"

There was a knot of anxiety in his stomach now, no, it couldn't be…

"It is Eliza. And yes, only a Project. A failed one."

"I was hoping it wouldn't be…"

"But you knew it was? You see why the confidentiality?"

"She doesn't know?"

"She doesn't remember. Self-repressed. The events were too traumatizing for her and out of self-preservation they were locked away. We… we had to lie to her, to help. …But she has not been completely stable. You see how withdrawn and quiet she is; she is not normally like that."

"That's…" he trailed off helplessly.

"May I continue?"

"I'm sorry. By all means, do so."

The robot walked to the doorway and folded his arms behind his back. He seemed to sigh.

"He obtained her when she was close to two years old. He then decided to have minor experimentation done on her when once every year until she was five years old and ready to be a Project – at which time he would do the heavy work. I, a failed prototype, was sent here, with some standard robots, to keep the residents in line. This life was better to them then the ones they had led directly under the Empire, so they did not give me problems. I was not unkind to them. When she turned five, however… the problems began."

There was a pregnant pause. Mighty did not dare interrupt him.

"The day after her birthday Doctor Robotnik sent for her… Most of the town hated, and still hates her."

"For what?"

"For being higher than them. It is a stupid and petty thing to do, but unfortunately it is what experiments do."

Mighty sighed; he remembered all too well.

"They want a scapegoat. It's too much damn effort for them to hate Robotnik, so they hate someone else instead, someone closer to him, though they suffer so much more. Anyone with a brain knows he doesn't care about anyone but himself, but these people are always going on about how so and so is his favourite…"

"Exactly," the robot nodded.

It was probably then that Mighty noticed how odd he looked. He seemed humanoid, and at the same time not. He was Espio's height, and all silver. His forearms and calves were slightly thicker, slightly darker. He had pale gray eyes, almost white, and seemed to have a form of spines or hair, spiked back and down behind his head. He had no ears, or nose, or tail. He looked ageless, and yet he had an aura of wisdom and age about him that made the armadillo think of a forty year old man.

"So… he sent for her. Robots, that is, he didn't go personally. Maryanne's father, Bernard Rainer… took Eliza and fled. He was probably one of the only ones that understood and was actually bothered by what was going to happen to her. He tried to smuggle her to a hedgehog family. Unfortunately, he was found out… and Doctor Robotnik sent one of his Projects. Ripper. Bernard was killed, and the hedgehog family was burned alive. I am told that only one managed to escape; with severe burns."

"That's awful. I'm surprised Maryanne doesn't hate her for that."

"Maryanne follows her father's footsteps in that matter."

Mighty nodded, and Sil continued.

"Eliza was apprehended… and underwent the experimentation. He toyed around; pumped her full of Chaos Energy… and somehow… some part of Chaos, himself."

That floored the armadillo, completely.

"What!"

"Some of his consciousness. Perhaps some of the Chaos Energy he put in her was actually from him; perhaps it was part of him he put in her. Or perhaps he altered the chaos inside her body to attract him… or part of him."

"But… Chaos…? The… water creature from echidna history?"

"The very same."

"That doesn't make any sense! She… she'd be a powerhouse, or something… not tiny…"

"The Chaos Energy is in her. She can only use very small amounts of it. It also caused the mutations you see in her, she stopped growing and her metabolism stopped functioning properly. That is why she is as physically small as she is. It is not natural. For now, all she is a container."

"That… that's completely insane."

"It happened, whether or not you think so."

"No, I don't mean to doubt you or anything… it's just that…." The armadillo trailed off. "Never mind, go on."

"As to be expected of a five year old child, her mind couldn't handle it. It was too traumatic, she broke; in a metaphorical sense. She cracked. It was too much… When she returned, she was a shell. She would have horrible nightmares – and it got to the point where she lost touch of what was the nightmare and what was the reality… we lied to her. And she accepted that. Her own mind, perhaps Chaos… to protect her, shut away all those memories. It is likely that if Chaos did it, he did so, not out of goodness, but out of the need to preserve… for lack of a better word, his host. As you probably know, experimentation usually results in insanity, or depression, but usually insanity… which usually results in death, particularly suicide. And if not, it generally leads to unhealthiness…. And sometimes the obsessive need to kill someone."

"I remember it all too well," said the teenager quietly.

"When she was brought back, the Sellos were brought in too. They were also experiments, but at the time they weren't nearly as oppressive as they are today, so the people of the village were not very wary. "

He paused for a moment, though Mighty saw no reason to.

"I was instructed to do constant experimentation, not light, heavier. On the first scheduled night, I injected the anaesthetic into her… it didn't work properly, so I needed to put in another dose; she was conscious when I brought her to the laboratory, and spoke a few words to me, but I doubt she remembers."

Again, Mighty was silent. Unsure of how to react. So he waited, and listened patiently as the robot spoke.

"I could not bring myself to do it." He did not elaborate, so the sentence hung there.

"Maryanne's mother, who unfortunately does resent Eliza – berated me, but did not betray me. I reprogrammed myself at that point, to the best of my ability, put in fresh programming… to protect the people of Elmridge. I never harmed her, or anyone else. Unfortunately, it was soon after that the Sellos became oppressive – the new guards, and my new programming disallowed me to do anything."

The robot let out what Mighty could only interpret as a sigh.

"And they have reigned the village ever since. A dictatorship, cutting the village off from everything else. It is great luck, or perhaps fate, that you are here today, Mighty. The reason I am telling you this is because I need you to do something."

"To free the people? I'll be glad to help."

"I thank you, Mighty, but that is not what I wanted to ask you."

"I'll do it anyway."

There was silence for a minute, as the robot organized his thoughts, and then.

"Do you know who Dimitri is?"

"I think I heard Knuckles mention the name, but I don't know anything about him myself."

"He was the one who created the Chaos Siphon. It backfired, he went insane with power, and Edmund, his brother, with the aid of the fireants, trapped him underneath Mount Ezekial with a blood seal. Mount Ezekial was then renamed to Mount Doom. Dimitri's son, Menniker, formed the Dark Legion."

"Wasn't it Edmund's son who fought him…?"

"Precisely, Mighty. They fought, and Steppenwolf trapped Menniker and the legion within the Forbidden Zone. Some escaped, and were legionnaires in secret, making many failed attempts at breaking the blood seal, until finally they gave up. An echidna named Kragok claimed to have awakened Dimitri within his prison, but also has claimed to have received messages and visions. Though bound by the blood seal, Dimitri still had access to some of his powers, and tried to retrieve the Dark Legion from the Forbidden Zone. He failed, however, and sent Echidnaopolis there instead. Now, I am informed that Kragok has formed an allegiance with Doctor Robotnik to get what he needs to break the seal."

"And that is?"

"The blood from a descendant of Edmund."

Mighty opened his mouth, then closed it again. Which descendant?

As if sensing his question, Sil responded;

"I am unsure which descendant. Possibly both. They need to be of age, however, and Eliza is only in danger when she turns ten. However… Doctor Robotnik's next experimentation will also take place when she turns ten. Which is in three weeks."

"I think I understand your plight."

"He is scheduled to apprehend her one day after her birthday. On her tenth birthday, I plan to tell her the truth. I need you to take her, Mighty, take her back to her brother, protect her and keep her away from Robotnik, and from Dimitri. Will you do this?"

Here the armadillo hesitated, he didn't want to involve himself with a potential weakness, especially a little girl, but…

Who else did she have? It would be a crime to leave her to Dr. Robotnik…

So, with the sick feeling that he would someday regret it, he nodded.

"I will."

"I thank you, Mighty. If I am unable to tell her the truth, then, please, when you feel she is ready, do so in my stead."

He opened a drawer and rummaged through it, finally producing a tape. It was sealed in a case, and unlabeled.

"And show her this when you do. I have recovered my memories in it."

Again, he nodded.

Sil was silent for a minute, turning his back on the teenager. Finally, he said,

"I will die soon."

"But you're–"

"I will not die in the same sense that you Mobians die… however, it is the same to me. Either I will sacrifice myself for the villagers, or Doctor Robotnik will find out I have been disobeying him, and terminate me."

There was silence.

Mighty opened his mouth, closed it again, and then finally managed to speak.

"I can save you… I can stop them… I can atleast try!"

The robot gave him an unreadable look, and their eyes met for a long minute. Then, he shook his head.

"It is inevitable. I do not want you to try, you must focus your energies on Eliza. It will be difficult for her to cope with the truth… it will be difficult for her to live and grow as a girl of her age should."

"I…"

"Do not argue with me. I have lived long enough, she is more important."

"You can't judge the importance of people," said Mighty quietly, with a trace of stubbornness in his eyes.

"If you try to save me, you will endanger her. You have already agreed to take care of her and do your best to protect her from harm."

And the armadillo found he could not argue that point. He bit his lip, and then sighed.

"Alright."

"Again, I thank you."

There was another pause, and then the robot continued.

"It will be especially difficult for her to learn that I am one of Doctor Robotnik's robots, I am certain of that." Though he spoke quietly, it was the only thing Michael could hear, "I am unsure how to react. I feel partially responsible for what she has endured – since I have not made any proper attempt to stop it."

"But… you couldn't! You can't blame yourself for that, there was nothing you could do to stop what he did!"

"Perhaps so. But I cannot control the way I feel– " he seemed to smile, "Perhaps it is a side effect of living with Mobians so long."

He really did seem like an old man, then.

"When the time comes, and she discovers the truth about me – You can tell her that I love her. And I always have."

---

After the initial agreement had been made, it only left the official papers. Though Mighty was only fifteen, Sil used his status as a Chaotix to disregard the age. Mighty was not very comfortable about taking care of a little girl, since she was very quickly becoming attached to him, however, he reasoned with himself that it was only temporary, until he brought her back to Knuckles.

He knew it was dangerous spending time with her and letting her come close… Dangerous to let her get attached to him… but if he ever tried to push her away, she would look at him with those big, heartbroken eyes… he couldn't bear it. And in a few weeks, who else would she have?

So he let her close.

He let her talk to him, smile with him, laugh with him, sit beside him, or on his lap. He knew that it would come back to bite him… but… he couldn't bear to say no. And when she smiled, he couldn't help smiling with her…

Two weeks past, and the armadillo was healing neatly. Other than a few fading scars, there was no indication that he had ever been injured, let alone close to death.

Maryanne visited a bit more frequently, and other than that, and Eliza's constant visits whenever she wasn't doing her work, he was alone.

Mostly, he studied the odd robot. He was stern and sometimes cold, but that was only the surface. Frequently Eliza would hug him, and each time, he would smile, and then he would return the hug. The armadillo could not shake the feeling that the robot resembled a tired old man.

---

It was two days before her birthday that he was gently tapped awake in the middle of the night. At first he was startled and jolted, but Sil quieted him without speaking and the armadillo's eyes easily adjusted to the darkness.

Sil motioned for him to follow, and he did. He spoke nothing, but there was the question in his eyes. Sil only nodded in response. He retrieved the echidna from her bed – she was asleep, but stirred at his touch. They moved silently, and then, just as they were about to slip out of the house, she woke.

"S.. sil…? What's…" she yawned halfway through her sentence, and Sil shushed her softly. "We must be silent now, but I will explain later."

She nodded, and stayed quiet. They slipped out. The night was quiet, still, Sil let her down and they all walked silently.

He had never seen anything outside of Sil's house, so he just followed. The escape was now? What kind of resistance were they expected to face?

Sil seemed to know the village well, it was deathly silent as they walked. It was all new to him, so he followed. He was not sure who was a guard and who was a villager, but he guessed the hulking dogs were the ones. Buildings, mainly small ones, whizzed by. Sil began to weave through the shadows, and Mighty followed the erratic pattern as much as he could. There was silence.

And then the robot spoke, suddenly.

"Stay here."

He and Eliza froze, and Sil disappeared. They both stayed very still, barely daring to breathe. The silence was too thick and too heavy. However, it only lasted minutes, because soon after, Sil returned. Though his posture was calm, there was something in his eyes that betrayed alarm, and… fear?

"We must leave. Now. Do not be alarmed when I change."

"What happened? And what do you mean, cha–"

Sil did not answer him. Not verbally, anyway. He seemed to flicker, meld, and a second later, he was no longer Sil, but a hulking giant. Eliza, was of course, alarmed, and he quietly said.

"This is a disguise. Now, ru-"

He was cut off by loud noises, and other dogs came lumbering towards them.

"Good job, Bruno, you found the outsider!" the ringleader, a light brown dog, leered down at Eliza, "And the problem child."

Sil opened his mouth to protest, but then the ringleader nodded to the other dogs, and Sil noticed what they were holding.

The ringleader grabbed Eliza, and before Mighty could react, something sharp pierced his arm. He looked down. A needle.

Sil did protest this time, but the ringleader ignored him.

"I'm taking this one to the containment room. Kill the armadillo."

And he disappeared into the night.

Vicious grins appeared on the faces of the Sellos, and it was then that Mighty attacked.

He was careful only to knock them out, but regardless, they couldn't stop him – he was a whirlwind. It was only after they were all unconscious (minus Sil, of course) when his heart suddenly felt as thought it would burst. His knees gave out and he collapsed, vomiting.

Sil adopted a pained look. He hid the bodies – in and around the dumpsters, then picked Mighty up and quickly returned to his home.

"I didn't think they had any more of that…"

"W-what.. h-happened…? Why… did we leave her?"

Sil had reverted back to his normal form. He let out another sigh. "There was nothing we could have done. I cannot harm anyone. Neither can you, in your state. We will have to wait for you to recover. What they injected you with, Neophane… it will keep you weak and sickly, for two and a half days. We still have time, after you have recovered, we will free her, and you two will escape."

He paused. "I am sorry."

"Not your fault…"

And he resumed vomiting.

Mighty was uncomfortably reminded of back then… the sickness, the lethargy… everything. And it all linked back to him.

He was vaguely aware of Sil giving him water, Sil washing him, Sil taking care of him…

And it was then that everything went black.

---

What followed was the night leading up to Eliza's birthday. It was a night either he or she would ever forget.

Though Mighty was no longer vomiting and sickly, he was still weak. Incapable of winning a proper fight. Which is why Sil came to him, something quietly frantic in his posture and tone, he was surprised – and worried.

"We are out of time," said the robot quietly.

"What are you talking about?"

"I have gotten information from a reliable source. He told me… Things have changed. Doctor Robotnik is not coming to collect her, he has instead sent the Dark Legion out to use her for the blood seal." He paused, "Today. They already on our way. Your team mates have all already been captured."

"But I can't–"

"You must. We must."

He pulled Mighty to his feet and began pulling him along, outside of the house.

"We will free her. You will escape with her. I will fight the Dark Legion."

"But… will you be able to handle them?"

"No. But it should be enough for you to escape."

"But you'll–"

"We have gone through this already."

"Are you going to make her watch you die! Do you know what that's going to do to her!"

"I would rather her being alive and safe."

He gripped Mighty's arm a little harder and forced the armadillo to meet his eyes.

"She saw Bernard die in a horrible way. She was crying and screaming when they took her. When she came back, she was a shell of a girl. Quiet, sad… broken. She recovered and returned to being the outspoken, happy girl you know her as – but I know that a part of her died back there, even with the suppressed memories. I do not want that to happen again. Ever."

There was silence again. Mighty allowed himself to be led. It was dark again, but even so he was surprised they faced no resistance. They reached a small building Sil introduced as the containment facility. There were noises, loud noises – and in the distance they could see people, people in black robes.

"The Dark Legion!"

Sil cursed under his breath, which surprised the armadillo, and he let go. Sellos came flocking out the other way, to meet them.

"Retrieve her – then come to the other side and escape with her. Their ships are there," he gestured to the hoverpods resting in the distance, "Running that way is futile."

Sil left without another word, and Mighty bit his lip, and made his way inside the building.

It was more difficult than he expected to get in. It was not that his strength was gone, but his body was still too weak to properly use it. Nevertheless, he found her, and her face lit up upon seeing him.

"We're escaping."

He broke the chains that bound her, and picked her up, pressing her again his chest.

And then, he broke out into a ran.

He couldn't go nearly as fast as he wanted to, but at least it something, he was moving. His stomach was churning now.

The Dark Legion flocked in, and the armadillo estimated there were at least two hundred troupes, about twice the population of the village. He hated to leave them behind like this, but he knew it was futile to go against them. They were all armed, and he was only one, and drugged at that. He had agreed to take Eliza to safety, and in order to stop the Dark Legion entirely he would have to escape this time.

Sil stood in the middle of the battle, straight as a flagpole, looking righteous in the chaos of the invasion. They were all shooting at him, heading towards him.

Eliza tried to glance back at him, but Mighty held her firmly.

"What's going on?" she nearly squeaked, "Is Sil going to be okay? What's happening?"

"He'll be fine," he assured her. It was a lie, and he hated himself for lying to her, but he knew that if she knew the truth she would try to stop it, try to save him, odds be damned.

And despite his efforts to keep her ignorant; they failed.

She had managed to get her head under his arm, and her eyes widened dramatically as she saw Sil, surrounded on all sides.

"Run!" they both heard him call out.

With one desperate, jerky motion, she was free of the armadillo, and running back towards the robot, eyes welling up with tears.

"Sil!" she cried, weaving through the legionnaires and flinging her tiny body into his arms. Only a handful of legionnaires noticed the new addition.

He looked down at her, battered from the fighting, digital eyes narrowed and unresponsive.

She wrapped her arms around his torso, and though it did not even come close to covering the whole of it, she clung there, looking up at him with wide, teary eyes.

"I told you to run," he said quietly.

She shook her head.

"I won't leave you!"

"Guardian!" one of the Legionnaires squawked. And now the others were noticing too. Their objective.

Sil detached the little echidna from him, and quietly told her:

"I am going to self-destruct."

She shook her head violently, expression pleading now.

"Sil! You can't! There must be another way!"

"There is not. I am sorry, child."

She burst into shaky crying, hugging him again, despite his best efforts to keep her detached from him.

"NO! Sil… you can't… please… you can't… there must be…"

Sil tilted his head to look towards the armadillo.

Mighty was coming back.

He set his self-destruct timer to one minute, silently, then he did something very odd.

He hugged her.

And that was the moment who symbolized who he was, to Mighty. A tired old man hugging a little one, pouring strength into her. Eliza flung herself into the embrace, never wanting to let go.

"It is done," he whispered. "One minute."

"No!" she responded, just as quietly.

He ran a hand over her head, softly, his body deflecting any laser shots that hit.

"I am sorry, child."

"No… Sil… you can't do this! You-you're the only father I ever had! I love you…!"

He glanced down at her, and held her a little firmer.

"And you, the daughter I could never have. … Goodbye, Eliza."

He held her for a second longer, and then he straightened, pulled her free of the embrace, and flung her at Mighty.

He caught her, then veered around and made a beeline for the hills. Some of the legionnaires turned their attention to him, a few beginning to chase.

"SIL!" she shrieked, writhing in Mighty's grip.

She tried to get down but he held her steadily. However, once again, she managed to steal a glance at the commotion below.

More legionnaires were attacking Sil now, at least forty. She bit her lip, silently cheering for him as he leapt upon them. The robot was not a good fighter. He was an old model, not built for this at all… and he was slowly losing.

And then, he froze.

She stared as the motionless form distanced itself from her…

Explosion.

Sil, the legionnaires, and a good portion of the land around him went up into a massive inferno, bits of debris flying everywhere.

She stared.

It took about a minute for her to register what happened.

And then, as realization finally hit the girl, she drew in a breath, and from the bottom of her heart, let out an awful, pained scream of:

"SIL!"

In fact, it didn't stop there.

She kept going, shrieking the name over and over again, kicking and writhing frantically in Mighty's grip as she fought to get down, tears streaking down her face.

The remaining legionnaires glanced around sharply, searching for the source of the scream, blasters ready.

She drew her breath in for another cry, but Mighty clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Kid!" he hissed, his pity for her overrun by anger that Sil's entire plan was falling apart, and the feelings of guilt, regret, and helplessness that were overcoming, "Shut up before they hear you!"

Her body shook from the sobbing, and he felt himself softening a little. Why was he even snapping at her? It wasn't her fault at all… if only he had…

"I'm sorry… okay… I didn't want this to happen… but… Sil wanted you to escape… to be free, healthy… happy… safe.. You're putting us both in more danger with your screaming. Just… I know it hurts… but… but…"

She looked as though she wanted to speak, and he removed his hand from her mouth, still running – they were almost out of the village now.

"You told me he'd be okay," she said in a quiet, shaky voice. "You lied."

"Eliza, I-"

"You lied!" She shrieked, beating her tiny fists against his chest, sobs becoming angry as she writhed again. Thankfully, she did not scream, but he grunted from her attacks.

"You lied! He's dead, and you lied! If you hadn't lied we could have saved him and… and… and…"

She slumped against him, cries becoming silent, and he caressed her with his free arm, clumsily holding her to him in an attempt to console her while running for both their sakes. He was numb all over.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, as she quieted, "I'm sorry… I wish I could have done something.."

They had exited the village now, and she was quiet again.

A stray legionnaire spotted them, and made as if to call the others, but Mighty knocked him out. He crushed his communicating device. Having that done, the armadillo stripped him, and broke out into another run. Once they were far enough, in a forest, he set the echidna down.

"Eliza. This is very important."

He knelt until they were eye-to-eye. "I need you to stay here. I have to go and rescue my team mates – we'll come back for you once I'm done. Okay?"

"Ok-okay…"

"Thank you. Take care of yourself until then."

He donned the legionnaire's clothes. It was a simple idea, but effective – or so he hoped. Either way, he was not going to stand idle while his team was in danger. He disappeared then, back to Elmridge, back to the Dark Legion, this time, in disguise.

---

Thick shackles binding his legs, Knuckles the Echidna was being marched through the Dark Legion base by two particularly burly legionnaires.

He was silent, pose straight and righteous, amethyst eyes burning like twin coals.

Had the two guards been honest with themselves, they both would have admitted to being afraid of the echidna.

He was a figure to be feared.

Though of average height, Knuckles was a well-muscled teenager. He had abnormally large hands, with two spikes protruding from each hand, along the line of the knuckles. He was crimson in colour, with a white crescent spread across his chest, his Guardian mark.

But what really frightened the legionnaires were the eyes.  
The shape told a lot about the Guardian. They were narrow and slanted. Dangerous.  
The eyes themselves were best described as frozen fires. Dangerous, beautiful, cold. They were a light shade of purple, a brilliant amethyst. And inside those eyes, was a fire, covered by a coldness that assured both guards of no mercy. They were the eyes of a killer. A heartless killer.  
His pose only strengthened the fear in them, fed it.  
Always upright, always proud.  
They felt oddly humbled before him.  
They dreaded to think of what would happen should he get free.

He said nothing, and they said nothing, only marched forwards.

They hoped that Kragok could break him, or at least get rid of that silent determination that scared them so much. But that was not their concern at their moment – their concern was getting him where he needed to be.

And they were there.

The door slid open, and Kragok stood up from his desk.

"Anashi Korel," greeted the older echidna.

The eyes flickered upwards, meeting the mismatched ones of Kragok.

"Don't call me Anashi," said the Guardian icily.

"That is your name, isn't it?"

No answer.

Kragok strode towards the younger echidna, cloaked arms folded behind his back.

"Now, Guardian…"

Secured behind his back, Anashi's fists tightened.

The guards jolted, applying more pressure to their hold.

Kragok was nearly nose-to-nose with Knuckles now.

"I wish to know the location of Hidden Palace. If you and your team wishes to live, you will tell me."

Anashi eyed him with an unnerving calmness, then, oddly enough, smirked.

Kragok scowled.

"What's so funny?"

"You must be stupid," returned the teenager, the smirk cold and jagged – mocking, even.

Kragok bristled.

"What was that!"

He whipped out a blaster, pressing it against the forehead of the echidna.

Knuckles just regarded him coolly.

"Go ahead and pull the trigger. You're just proving to me that you have no self-control."

"Why you—"

The smirk widened, and Kragok silenced himself, pulling away the gun. He took a moment to regain his temper.

"Will you tell me?"

"No."

The older echidna cracked his knuckles.

He reached into the pocket, pulling out a whip.

Knuckles remained impassive, his expression still the same as he watched the other echidna.

For a few minutes, nothing was said. Anashi and Kragok locked gazes.

Finally, Kragok backed off, depositing the whip into the arms of one of the five guards in the room.

"Make him scream," instructed the echidna. "I will return in thirty minutes."

He sent a nasty smile at Knuckles as he left.

Left alone with the five guards, his gaze swept the room.

The guard, though unnerved, advanced upon the echidna, whip in hand.

"Let's see how brave you are after you taste this whip, Guardian scum."

His expression changed, and at first glance, he thought it was a smile. But no, they were mistaken, they knew he never smiled, and upon second glance, they realized that the smirk had returned.

In a flash, Knuckles had grabbed onto the wrists of the two guards holding him, spun around, and hurled them into the other three.

Two were knocked down, and they scrambled to get up as the untouched one reached for his communicator.

Knuckles surged towards him, one leg snapping up to catch him in the stomach.

The cloaked echidna went flying, slamming into the wall.

He wheezed for air, hand latching onto the wall as he pushed himself upright.

Anashi ran for him, then at the last moment, turned his back to face him, shackled hands crushing him to the wall. He crumpled to the ground, either dead or unconscious, and Knuckles whirled on the remaining four.

The first two gave a yell, lunging for him, and the others came up behind him.

Knuckles, with some effort, managed to raise his bound arms over his head, then lowered them to his chest, ploughing into one of them. He staggered back, and the crimson echidna slipped his wrists over the head of the other one, yanking back until he was spluttering for air.

The other two opened fire, and he raised the unfortunate legionnaire, using him as a shield as he slammed into them.

One of the blasts hit the chain linking the shackles, and it snapped it two. The legionnaire dropped to the floor like a stone.

Hands now free, Knuckles was like a hurricane, rushing forwards, each fist contacting one of the other echidnas, batting them both into opposite walls.

Satisfied with his work, the Guardian picked up the blaster, and shot each shackle until the metal weakened. They clattered to the ground, and Anashi slipped on one of the cloaks, quietly exiting the room.

---

The size of the Dark Legion base was overwhelming.

Mighty the Armadillo found himself completely and utterly lost. He cursed quietly, right before locating a group of legionnaires. He quickened his pace to blend into them; and seemed relieved when they didn't notice. They were quietly chattering; small-talk; nothing he was interested in, so he simply followed them. He was trying to formulate a plan, and found that nothing came to mind. He was so absorbed in his thinking that he didn't notice that another legionnaire had taken a notable interest in him. And then he noticed, movement – and then a large hand was covering his face, and pulling him away. It happened so fast that he didn't get a chance to struggle, and before he knew it, he was against a wall. The hand was removed, and it instead yanked back his hood. Mighty couldn't see inside the hood; but there was something definitely familiar about him, in fact he was about the size of-

"You're alive," came the voice, one of pure disbelief – and naturally, it was Knuckles's.

And with speed that could have rivalled Sonic's, he had turned the tables, and yanked the hood off the bigger mobian. And sure enough, it was Knuckles.

"Yeah," he felt breathless, absolutely breathless, "What a story I'm compiling here…"

"It'll have to wait," the echidna was brusque as usual, "You need to find the rest of the team. To my knowledge, you and I are the only ones free. I meanwhile, am going to hunt down my dearest great uncle."

The armadillo had to smile at the sarcasm. "Dimitri?"

"Yes, that's the one."

A brief pause, and then, "Legionnaires are chatty, Mighty. They will drop the location. We don't have time to waste."

He nodded, and they parted ways. It was easy to blend into a crowd.

Especially a chatty one.

He waited impatiently for any news of the other Chaotix.

And luckily for him, they were quite chatty – because the information came. The rest of the Chaotix was in Block B, Cell 13. They would be brought before Enerjak later that day for their 'judgement'.

Mighty quietly absorbed the information.

And then:

"Also… have you heard about that little girl?"

Mighty's blood ran cold.

"What little girl?" another piped up.

No, it couldn't be her…

"Echidna. Red. 'Bout this big."

He held up a hand to his thigh.

Mighty's eyes widened.

"What about her?"

"I'm not sure, but she's being executed right now… flooded. Apparently Kragok gave the order, and Enerjak doesn't even know about it."

Mighty swore, and someone glanced at him. He quickly covered his tracks – pretended he had stubbed his toe.

He turned his attention back to the conversation, catching the tail end of another sentence "…Flooded?"

"Yeah, you know, in District A-57. They put 'em in a tube and fill it up with ice water 'till the prisoner drowns."

"Ouch."

"I have to go get her," muttered Mighty under his breath. No one heard. He went on his way.

---

The tube was small, and filling up at an alarming rate.

Eliza squeaked as the freezing water swept up past her knees. She tried to get a grip on the glass of the tube, scrambling up.

The water, however, was faster than her.

Within mere minutes it was full, and she had slipped, flailing uselessly as the water soaked her to the bone, covering her body in iciness. She held her breath and tried to scratch at the glass, desperately. Nothing happened. She tried hitting it, but her limbs were so heavy, the water so cold, the glass so hard.

A legionnaire entered, quickly, and her eyes widened.

"An audience…"

The 'legionnaire', however, had no intention of just watching, and rushed forward, throwing his hood off.

"MIGHTY!" her cry was garbled and distorted.

He skidded to a halt in front of a tube.  
The tube was filled to the brim with water, and inside, clawing at the glass desperately, was Eliza, glancing at him with wide eyes.  
He pushed himself forward, thrusting a fist into the glass, watching as it shattered. Water gushed out, flooding the room slightly. He caught her as she came, and shuddered as he felt the water against his fur. It was cold. Near freezing.  
And so was the girl.  
She shook and shivered violently, teeth chattering. He pressed her against his own fur, grimacing as her fur was soaked with ice cold water.  
He felt her tiny hands clutch onto his chest, trying to gather warmth.

He replaced the cloaked, rubbing her back, doing his best to ignore the temperature of the little echidna.

"Are you okay?"

He made a mental note to lecture her later. Not now. There was no time.

She nodded, then muttered.

"S-s-sorry…"

Somehow he was not surprised.

He sighed.

She sniffled, teeth chattering uncontrollably, clinging to him.

He waited for a few moments, warming her up, and when satisfied that she wasn't in danger anymore, took off at a run.

By now he knew the basics of the Dark Legion base.

He fled to the dungeons, and Eliza, under his cloak, was silent for the ride, other than her teeth chattering. She was still shivering, but less so, and not so violently.

After fifteen minutes of blending in with other groups, sneaking, and quiet, yet quick running Mighty the Armadillo, with the girl still latched onto his chest, whirled into the dungeons.

He slowed to a walk, glancing around.

He could hear noises, talking, up ahead. Breathing slowly and quietly, heart racing from the adrenaline pumping through his body, Mighty followed the sounds.

Sure enough his team was there.

Espio and Vector were the ones were talking, probably arguing, and Charmy was looking on with folded arms, refusing to participate. They quieted as he came, glancing at him.

"Execution time already?" demanded Espio, with a cool smirk.

Charmy just sniffed.

"But of course," Mighty responded, taking off the hood.

There was a collective gasp.

"Mighty! You're alive!"

Eliza popped her head out of the cloak.

Vector stared.

"Hey, Mighty, you got a kid?"

"Yes, Vector. Because of course, I go around impregnating girls in my free time," responded the armadillo dryly.

"I KNEW IT!"

Espio mock pouted.

"You got pregnant? WITHOUT ME!"

Charmy cleared his throat rather loudly.

"We need to leave," he stated, in his rich, cultured voice. "Let's go. Now."

"You're no fun," murmured Espio, but composed himself.

"Right. I'm busting you guys free, then we have to find Knux."

"Where's Knux?"

"He's looking for Enerjak."

"Ener-what?"

"Enerjak. The leader of the Dark Legion. The guy behind all this, y'know?"

"Ohh.. yeah. Right."

Perhaps if Mighty the Armadillo had been paying attention, he would have noticed eight pounds of weight drop off of his chest. However, he was too occupied with freeing his friends from their prison, that it went unnoticed.

Finally, they were free.

"Hey, Mighty…" Vector glanced at him, and Mighty looked up.

"Yeah?"

"Where's your kid?"

He looked down.

She was not there.

---

Enerjak strode into Kragok's office brusquely, causing the smaller echidna to jolt.

"Kragok," he called, and Kragok jumped to his feet.

"Yes, Lord Enerjak?"

He had his hands behind his back as he paced towards Kragok. Although he spoke calmly, there was a hint of danger in his voice.

"Remember… about eight years ago? I told you to dispose of the little Korel… Eliza, I believe her name was?"

Kragok was taken offguard. He chewed on his lip nervously, cybernetic eye scanning the room.

"Yes, what about her?"

"You did kill her, did you not?"

"Of course, Lord Enerjak."

"Really now? So what's THIS?"

In a flash his hand was in front of him, holding up a little echidna girl.

Kragok was at a loss for words.

"Uh… er… um.. you see…"

Dimitri waited patiently.

"Yes?"

Kragok swallowed, then, forcing as much emotion into his voice as he could, cried out:

"How did this happen!"

Enerjak stalked towards the smaller echidna, looking dangerous.

"Kragok, what did you do?"

"I... I swear Lord Enerjak! It wasn't my fault! I—"

Any other words were drowned out by loud alarms.

"Saved by the bell," muttered Kragok, but Enerjak heard him.

"That was a klaxon."

There was a beat.

"It seems the Chaotix have escaped. Very well. I will deal with this. As for you—"

With a flick of his wrist, he had thrown the echidna, and Kragok hastily caught her.

"I'll give you another chance. Don't fail me, Kragok."

He swallowed.

"Thank you, Lord. I won't."

Enerjak disappeared out the door, and the two echidnas were left alone in the office.

As soon as he was gone, Kragok whirled upon the smaller echidna, holding her by her waist tightly.

"I don't know how you survived," growled Kragok, organic eye glittering.

"But I assure you, you won't survive past this point!"

He relinquished his hold on her waist, grabbing her up by her dreadlocks instead, taking out a blaster from his cloak and pressing it against the side of her head.

"Nice way to treat a kid," muttered Eliza, twisting and writhing in his grip.

He held her firmly, but she grabbed his wrist, pressing against the veins as hard as she could. Kragok gasped, startled. He loosened his grip a little, but didn't let go.  
It was more than enough for her.  
She bit down on the hand holding her, twisted around some more, kicking the gun away. It went soaring through the opening window. Kragok, hissing in pain, dropped her like a hot coal, eyes narrowing as the distant clatter of the gun falling reached his ears.

"I'll kill you with my bare hands, you little brat!"

He lunged, and she danced back, one of said hands nearly slamming into her stomach.

She jumped onto the desk just as Kragok began to plough into her, and she scrambled away from him, landing in front of his heavy-duty paper shredder.

The fist came down, but she leapt out of its path, and instead it lodged itself into the paper shredder.

He shrieked out in pain, and tried to withdraw his hand, but it only pushed it deeper in.

She stared in horror, and his eyes screwed up in pain. The gears grinded together, and he tried to tear his hand free, but to no avail. The machine held it in its grip. With a final tug, and a final scream, he managed to wrench it free, but the arm was a bloody stump.

It had been severed from the mid-forearm down, and now the hand was non-existent. Eliza backed away, eyes wide.

"I'm-I'm sorry… I didn't meant to…"

Kragok glanced down at her, eyes burning with fury- and pure madness.

"I am… going… to kill you…"

It came out in a whisper of a hiss, every syllable trembling.  
Eliza, still in shock, just stared as he snatched her up again with his good hand, this time by the throat.

"You… BRAT…"

He was hyperventilating from the pain, and the pure rage. He waved the bloody stump in front of her face once. She flinched and shrank away from it, but he held her firmly, fingers pressing against her throat. She gasped out for air, and a twisted grin spread across his face as he watched her.

However, the grin disappeared instantaneously as a cold, silky, deadly voice sounded in his ear.

"Drop the girl."

He could feel a wisp of breath on his back, and a bead of sweat rolled down Kragok's face as fear gripped him in a stranglehold.

"Gu-Guardian…!"

He did not drop the girl, but a gloved hand closed down on his wrist, squeezing until Kragok was forced to relinquish his grip on her.

Eliza dropped to the ground, and then the legionnaire got a glimpse of his assailant again. He only barely associated him to the little boy Anashi he had seen… was it… eight and a half years ago…? Nine? Ten? He couldn't remember.  
Anashi had been small, with wide, innocent, kind purple eyes.

Now… Almost as tall as him, muscular, battle-scarred- and the eyes…

Kragok shuddered.

Twin amethyst chips of ice, those eyes were hardened, no longer kind or innocent, they were the eyes of a killer.

There was no mercy in those eyes.

Regardless, his sister was here, maybe for her sake he'd…

"M-mercy, Guardian! Mercy!"

He only saw part of Knuckles's face, but then it contorted, and…

A smile?

A smile it was, without warmth, or any trace of compassion, the kind of smile a predator would give a trapped prey before the kill.

The Guardian's hold on Kragok's wrist tightened, and then he coiled his arm, and threw him.

Kragok crashed into the door, and it slammed open on contact.

He lay on the ground for a second, dazed, but then he scrambled to his feet. Knuckles made no move to follow him, and so Kragok fled.

The Guardian had spared him.

Knuckles watched him go, then turned to Eliza, who was on her feet again.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded numbly. His presence was triggering memories, strings of thoughts… old and forgotten. He reminded her of… reminded her of…

He frowned.

"I thought it was you…"

When she said nothing, he walked back to her.

"Who are you?" she squeaked. He was red like her, even had the crescent, but…

"I didn't expect you to remember me."

He crouched down, so that they were eye-to-eye.

"It's me…" he paused, "Anashi."

There was a minute of silence where she just stared, and then, quietly, timidly:

"…Nashi…?"

He nodded. She stared, shocked, and numbness flooded over her. He looked like Nashi, he sounded like Nashi… he had the same eyes… no. Nashi's eyes were kind and loving. These eyes were cold. Cold and uncaring. He was vicious, he was heartless… it wasn't Nashi. It wasn't. It couldn't be. This was a killer. This was a monster.

She backed away.

"Nashi?" she repeated, fear creeping into her voice.

A monster. A monster. How dare he, how dare he pretend to be Nashi! Nashi would never do horrible things! Nashi was nothing like that! How dare he! How dare he! Her eyes hardened, she glared at him, and shrieked:

"YOU'RE NOT MY BROTHER!"

It was hard to tell how he reacted. He seemed to flinch, and then turned his head. Perhaps if she was paying enough attention she would see the pain and shame in his eyes – but she was not, and a few seconds later, he turned his head back.

"Not what you expected, I know…" he said softly, expression unreadable.

"I refuse to believe it!" she balled her fists, "Nashi would never do such horrible things! Nashi would never have such cold, hard eyes! It's a lie, a lie, a lie, and I refuse to believe it!"

A tiny part of her protested, insisting that her comments were uncalled for and that she had hurt him – but she did not care, she was much too passionate and much too angry. This wasn't her brother. This couldn't possibly be her brother. Nashi was kind and loving. Nashi was devoted. Nashi had warm eyes. This was not Nashi. It couldn't be. Nashi was not heartless. Nashi was not a monster. He was speaking, and she snapped back to attention.

"Not what you expected, I know," he said softly, expression unreadable.

For a brief moment, he considered hugging her. Holding her, like he'd wanted to do for all those years… It was not something he generally liked to do, which is why he felt a pang of confusion at the urge. He could not blame himself for this, however… she was the only thing he had left.

… But there was fear in her voice.

There was fear in her eyes. It was all over her, he could smell it. Doubt, uncertainty, fear… and she had just rejected him.

So he didn't.

"I didn't expect to see you this soon."

He stood up.

"There isn't much time."

The Guardian's eyes flicked about the room, mind working furiously. Enerjak was nearby.  
He could smell him.

But then there was the problem of his sister…

She was very small, and fragile. (Too small! Why was she so small? It was almost unnatural – she was the size of an underfed five year old, coming up his thigh, thin as a stick! His mother had been petite – three feet even and slight – but this was simply ridiculous! There was no reason why should be so tiny! She was safe in that village. She should have grown properly. So why…?)

She was still glaring up at him – and that seemed to remind him of the situation at hand, because his frown deepened as he considered his options.

Leaving her alone was risky, but so was taking her with him, and even more so... Or was it? She was a Korel after all…

But unfortunately, these were the only two options.

Unless…

He grabbed her up in one hand, and she let out a cry of protest, but he ignored it.

"It's too dangerous for me to take you with me, or leave you here, so…"

He held her, and she writhed in his grip, but it did her no good. He opened the closet with his other hand.

"Stay here. I'll come back for you soon."

He dropped her inside, closed it, and turned the lock on. A Korel, she was. Infallible she was not.

Satisfied with his work, he felt a little easier with her out of the way and as safe as she possibly be considering the circumstances.

He slipped through the door, and broke out into a run.

"It's high time I got some answers… Great Uncle Dimitri."

Eliza slammed her body against the door, eyes glittering.

"I don't care if who you are and who you claim to be, NOBODY LOCKS ME UP AND LEAVES ME BEHIND!"

---

The impressive set of double-doors slammed open as Knuckles the Echidna ploughed through them.

Enerjak was seated inside the throneroom, finishing off a glass of wine. He rolled it around in his mouth, slowly, luxuriously, savouring the wine. As Knuckles entered, he rose to greet him.

"Anashi."

"Dimitri."

Enerjak himself was an impressive figure. Standing at least a foot taller than Knuckles, he was somewhere between red and brown. He was clad in flamboyant armour of blue and gold; it covered most of his body. On his face, a mask, resembling an eagle. Probably symbolic, but Knuckles couldn't care less. The only part of him unclad were his dreadlocks, longer and thicker than Anashi's, by far. In his hand rested a staff.

"So you know who I am."

"How could I not?" growled Knuckles, "Great Uncle Dimitri, the only echidna who ever put himself over his own kind."

Enerjak let out a deep, throaty chuckle.

"Your kind? You are ignorant, my young friend. You know nothing of the echidna race, nor myself. In all of my experiments, all of my projects, I had only one thing in mind, my people!"

"Or so you'd like to think," responded Knuckles, with a coolness in his voice that made Dimitri uneasy.

"More like, you were jealous that Edmund was chosen to be Prime Guardian – even though he was younger. So you immersed yourself in projects to try and best him, while experimenting on the Emeralds to see if you could use the power for yourself."

Enerjak gave him a sad smile, but something glinted in those eyes.

"You have been brainwashed."

"Do you delude yourself about everything, Dimitri? There is no doubt that you were, and are still jealous, I can see it in your eyes. You became immersed in the Emeralds' power, and it consumed you. Edmund trapped you in Mount Doom with a blood seal. Your son Menniker founded the Dark Legion to avenge you and obliterate Edmund's followers. Of course – it failed, and the Dark Legion was banished to the Forbidden Zone. The power drove you completely insane. And everything for your own petty jealousy, and ambition."

Dimitri chuckled again.

"It is true that I took an interest in the Master Emerald, as well as the sole Super Emerald we had in our possession. I studied them, fascinated with how they worked. However, I never lusted for their power. What happened to me was a freak accident. You may believe the lies of the Guardians and of the Grand Council, but the truth is with me."

Knuckles let out a "Hn", but otherwise didn't reply.

"It is true I have ambition, but not for myself… for the echidna race! We are superior to all others, in intelligence, power, technology… everything! And yet they rule our lands, our cities, our countries… Absolutely ridiculous!"

"Pride commeth before the fall," remarked Knuckles wryly, but he offered no other comment.

"Am I wrong, Anashi? The technology theses ants have now… we had hundreds of years ago. We are clearly the most intelligent race on the planet- so why do we stoop to these boors!"

He extended a hand.

"Join me, Anashi! Your power is great, and with proper investigation, care, and training, think of what we could accomplish!"

Anashi eyed the hand coolly.

"And the other people? The Chaotix?"

"They will be underlings, but treated well. As for the Chaotix… they show promise, they may be generals, and rule the countries."

There was silence for a few minutes more. Enerjak's hand remained hanging in the air before the Guardian, who just glanced at it with disinterest.

"Your answer, Anashi?"

"Let's see," answered Knuckles, his cold gaze sweeping across the room, then finally coming to rest on Enerjak's mask.

"You attacked my home, captured myself, and my friends, tried to torture me, tried to kill my sister… spouted lies, racism, and propaganda… and now you expect us to join you without a second thought? How shall I put this… ahh, let me use the hedgehog's crude words: No way in hell."

Dimitri stared at him in pure disbelief.

"You're… rejecting me…? You're throwing away my friendship and my generosity?"

"You mean your façade? Yes. You're a liar and a power-hungry hypocrite, Great-Uncle Dimitri, and I don't trust you. At all."

Enerjak stared at him in some form of shock, hand slowly dropping to rest at his side.

There was a minute of silence, and then something snapped within the old echidna.

A blast of power, and Anashi was slammed violently against the wall.

"I offered you compassion, mercy, amity… YOU REJECTED IT! I had hoped you had more reason and kindness than your ancestors, boy, but YOU'RE JUST LIKE THEM!"

Another blast of Chaos Energy, but this time Knuckles threw himself out of the way just in time. The blast soared overheard, drilling into the wall, creating a sizeable dent.

"You have no idea of the power I possess, pup," snarled Enerjak, and his hands glowed green.

Knuckles leapt to his feet.

He was a blur, rushing at Dimitri, shifting past his beams of Chaos Energy, and finally bringing his balled fist up to punch Enerjak across the face.

Enerjak staggered back form the force of the attack. Knuckles allowed him no time to breathe. His fists were like whirlwinds as he lashed out, hitting Enerjak from all ends. It was not until the mask shattered that Dimitri finally managed to hit him. Knuckles was sent flying across the room, crashing back into the wall.

Enerjak, wasting no time, lunged, hands glowing, free hand reaching for the boy's throat.

Knuckles twisted out of the way again, but this time, not quickly enough.

Enerjak raked his nails down his side, and Knuckles's eyes hardened as he flinched.

Blood spurted out, and Anashi, pulling free of him glanced down at the blood thoughtfully.

The older echidna, wary of an attack from the Guardian, stepped back, eyeing him, his left hand clasped around the staff tensely.

Knuckles studied the blood for a few moments, then removed one of his gloves, and dipped his hand in it.

He then streaked towards Dimitri, twisting and jerking the wrist at him. It all happened so fast that Dimitri had no time to dodge. Specks of blood flicked all over him, each one on a different sensitive spot of his body- eyes, throat, shoulders, sides, face, chest…

Knuckles held the gloved hand to the naked one, index fingers bent so that the tips touched, and thumbs underneath them, holding them up, supporting them. The rest of the fingers were intertwined.

He closed his eyes and murmured something. Chaos Energy swirled round him, and too little, too late, Enerjak realized what he was doing, and tried to run.

Anashi opened his eyes, and the irises seemed to be pulsating. Dimitri froze.

"_Blood Bind_." It was spoken in Old Mobian, of course, but Dimitri could understand him.

Seeming to extract right from his boy itself, rays and thin beams of Chaos Energy shot out from him, targeting the little specks of blood, and slamming into them.

The force was crushing, paralysing, and Dimitri knew that if he wasn't powered and protected by Chaos Energy, the attack would have killed him.

It finished, and the red echidna took a minute to regain his breath.

Enerjak lunged.

Smiling viciously, he ploughed into him.

Hid body felt like it was on fire, but somehow, it didn't hamper his movements. Besides, he would rather eat his weight in glass then admit weakness to his cold-blooded great-nephew.

Instead of slamming into Knuckles, Dimitri grabbed him by the throat, shook him like a rag doll, and outright threw him at the wall.

Anashi twisted around in the air, landing against the wall with his feet, and then used them to spring back at Dimitri.

Enerjak sent another wave of Chaos Energy at him, hurtling him back into the wall.

His back collided with it, but he spring to his feet right after, flinching only momentarily.

"Do you expect me to be impressed by that, Great Uncle?" Knuckles smirked.

"No, I expect you to tremble in awe and terror, you insolent pup!"

"Sorry, Great Uncle," responded Knuckles, "You're a bit too old to play omnipotent. Now, if you surrender, I'll find you a nice nursing home."

It seemed there were a few things he could learn from Sonic after all. Very few and far in between – but there were things Knuckles could pick up. Such as this attitude. His sudden cheekiness had the desired effect. Enerjak charged for him, Chaos Energy crackling about him.

Knuckles, a hint of a smile in his eyes, quickly swerved out of the way. His moves were fluid, flawless, and there was no sign of weariness from the Guardian, despite having just performed the Blood Bind.

Enerjak, scowling, turned and slammed his fist into the ground, forcing energy into it.

Knuckles was taken by surprise, and the ground cracked as Chaos Energy swept through it. It erupted from beneath him, tossing him into the air, slamming him into the ceiling. The smile left its place, and now Dimitri was the one smirking.

He positioned himself under Knuckles, waiting for him to fall.

Knuckles twisted around in the air, arms out, fists clenched, pointing them down as he fell.

Enerjak leapt out of the path of the fists, instead snapping a leg up, shoving it into the Guardian's side.

Pain flashed across his eyes, and he found himself slamming into the wall-- face first, however, this time. It happened too fast for him to dodge.

Enerjak allowed him no time to breath, pursuing him, picking him up and throwing it into the other wall. Having slightly more time, this time, Knuckles took the hit on his side this time, and grunted, refusing to show his great-uncle any weakness.

Dimitri continued.

Anashi narrowed his eyes, mind racing.

Now Dimitri had the upper-hand. The only way that Knuckles could get back on his feet again, let alone attack, was if the older echidna either tired out, or became distracted by something.

And the chances of either happening were both very slim.

What he needed right now was a miracle.

Enerjak had become smug again. For a bit, he was beginning to doubt himself, his powers, and beginning to think that maybe he had underestimated his great-nephew.

Now, however, these thoughts were out of his head.

His insolent pup of a descendant had the gall to refuse him, taunt him, even try to injure him! But it had not worked. Anashi and his attacks were simply sub-par against Enerjak, it was like a rat trying to fight a lion.

Knuckles the rat. He liked that.

Of course, he was so busy gloating, he didn't notice Anashi's miracle come, in the form of a little ten-year old echidna.

Silently, she leapt, her years of training trying to slip past Sil and to the sweets pantry unnoticed kicking in, guiding her. Sil… her eyes hardened. Enerjerk or whatever his name was would pay for what he did; she'd make sure of it!

She wrapped herself around his head. She had no idea what she was doing, or how that would even help, maybe gouge his eyes out? … the little echidna knew she had to be completely desperate to be thinking that kind of thoughts but she –

And then it came. Something. _CHANNEL IT!_

Something inside her, she did know or care what, screamed at her. She didn't even understand what that had meant or anything about it. And then suddenly, her entire body was burning, her eyes the worst – and she felt dazed. And something else, something strange, something vaguely familiar yet not familiar at all. Her senses seemed to fail for her, for just a minute – but then they returned. And the burning was gone, everything was back to normal except the strange sensation. And she blinked to clear her eyes – and noticed both were enveloped by a soft green light and… she was taking something… from him.

Energy, she realized. But not energy. His power too. And now it came so easily to her… as if a second nature… But how…? She had never done anything like this!

Knuckles quickly jumped to his feet, balling his fists, while Enerjak did all that he could to try and rip, tear, and otherwise remove the smaller echidna from him, but she had the clinging power of a leech, and refused to let go. Dimitri seemed to have forgotten about Knuckles's presence altogether, and Knuckles mentally reasoned that right now was a very good time to attack. In fact, it was a _very _good idea.

And that's exactly what he did.

And the old echidna found himself being overwhelmed by the two. He tried to remove Eliza, got the spikes of Knuckles's fist in his face, he tried to attack Knuckles, but his limbs felt too heavy, and his eyelids were slipping… they held a definite advantage.

He hissed, clumsily dodging another hit from Knuckles, but managing to wrap his fingers around Eliza's torso, and beginning to try and rip her away. He succeeded in detaching her from him, but Knuckles caught his arm, removed her, and by the time he was free of her grip and leeching, it was too late. Too much energy had been stolen, he had lost his hold…

Knuckles gave him a cool smile.

"The price of interfering with the Forbidden Zone, Dimitri. I suppose I should thank you for bringing Echidnaopolis back – though it was only Echidnaopolis, and the last time you attempted to remove the Dark Legion from the Forbidden Zone through your power alone you banished it to the Forbidden Zone, held it here… But before you were released from Mount Doom – you could no longer hold it. Now you have recalled the Dark Legion here… but you can't hold it anymore, can you?"

It was rare that he spoke so much – but he was saying it for the benefit of his sister – and also, his own, trying to make sense to himself. And it did. Without warning the fist shot out, and there was so much power behind it that Enerjak found himself slamming into the same wall he had attempted to flatten his assailant against, only minutes before…

Enerjak let out a hiss of pure revulsion and hatred, and in Knuckles's arms, his sister, filled to the brim with not even one tenth of the power Enerjak possessed, passed out. Knuckles glanced down at her, his expression never betraying his worry and surprise. He had just witnessed her absorbing a great deal of power… she seemed to be functioning well enough, though he knew she could never use that power. It was simply stored, but that was odd in itself, and he faintly wondered if this strange ability and her tiny size may be connected….

He turned his attention back to Dimitri.

His Great-Uncle Dimitri, who was currently snarling, and glaring at the two Guardians. He also seemed to be… flickering? He hurled a ball of Chaos Energy at Knuckles, but the younger echidna dodged easily.

"You'll pay for this, Anashi…Mark my words. I will be back."

Knuckles shot him a superior glance.

"I'll be waiting."

Dimitri returned his look with one of total venom, and then Knuckles took off in a run, holding his unconscious sister to him. He couldn't afford to waste anymore time dawdling, he had to find his team-mates and escape the base before they were sent to the Forbidden Zone along with the Dark Legion.

---

Sometimes Vector was a little slow on the uptake, but no one in the Chaotix was stupid.

When they saw legionnaires beginning to disappear, they took off running.

The Dark Legion base was vast and complicated, but there were many exits. Of course, the Chaotix didn't know the exact location of these exits, but they figured that if they kept running, they would come across one… eventually.

As it stood, the more people disappeared, the more a sense of urgency settled into their heads, and the more they increased their speed.

Though running blindly, it didn't take them long to find Knuckles.

"Don't stop to chat," he hissed, running a few steps in front of them, but they caught up.

"What th'hell's goin' on, Knux?" demanded Vector, somewhat irritated at having to run so long, and so much. Not to mention the entire earlier episode…

"Just shut up and keep running, Vector, or we're going to join the Dark Legion on their one-way trip to the Forbidden Zone."

Vector complied without another word.

It seemed that the Dark Legion was on its last leg in the pandemonium that had been caused, and now they had resorted to blindly shooting the Chaotix. Of course, this only caused more chaos, and none of the shots hit, though some came pretty close.

So now, on top of running lest they be sent to the Forbidden Zone, they also had to dodge not only laser shots, but falling objects caused by missed laser shots.

And considering that there were five of them running (Or flying, in Charmy's case) almost side-by-side, this proved to be quite a challenge.

"Does anyone know where we're going!" called Mighty, barely dodging a rather large chunk of the ceiling.

"There's an exit nearby!" roared Knuckles over all the other noises, slamming his fist into a chair that had been blocking his path.

"Guys!" squealed Charmy, gesturing to behind them, "Look!"

Not only were the legionnaires disappearing, but the entire building was beginning to fade into non-existence. Including the area directly behind them.

"There's the door!"

"Mighty… see if you can run ahead and ram the door."

Mighty nodded, took a breath, then put on an extra burst of speed. The door was a large, formidable thing, made of titanium, but not quite thick enough.

The armadillo slammed into the door, and it burst open, allowing the Chaotix to dart through it.

The door, as the well as the rest of the Dark Legion, and their base disappeared, and the mismatched group didn't stop to look back. They kept running, stopping only when Vector started to run out of a breath, which was a good two hundred meters away from the former location of their prison.

---

"You do realize we're going to have to raise her, don't you?" Knuckles inquired of Mighty, holding his sister, who was unconscious once more, but this time for sleep. Mighty decided he didn't like the direction of the conversation at all.

"We? No, I don't think so. There _is_ no 'we'. You're raising her, not me."

"Mighty, I have no idea how to raise a little girl."

"Neither do I!" came the quick rebuttal.

"You've had brothers."

Mighty narrowed his eyes a sliver.

"Raising a child and occasionally baby-sitting one or two are entirely different things. And I can't. There's too much risk. I have far too many enemies to allow a little girl to tag along… let alone for me to raise her, or even be within even ten feet of her. You know that, Anashi. It's too dangerous for both of us."

"Michael," snapped back Knuckle, and immediately, the echidna was barraged with several "No!"s from Mighty, but he went on regardless.

"Open your eyes. She is attached! I can tell you how attached Guardians act, although I'm sure you already know."

"I can't!" the armadillo persisted, "If one of my enemies hurt her… if I … hurt her…" the armadillo trailed off, giving the taller teenager a pleading look, but Knuckles's expression did not change. "…And it's bound to happen!" she finished.

"You should have thought about that before you let her come close to you."

"I wasn't trying to! But… I didn't want to push her away…" Mighty trailed off, biting his lip and staring off into the distance, "I only agreed to take care of her until I brought her to you."

"Listen, Michael. I don't like this situation anymore than you do. If I had my way, she would be being safely brought up in that Elmridge village."

"Don't just assume that!" Mighty answered, raising his voice a little, "You don't know what went on there!"

Knuckles narrowed his eyes.

"Whatever it is, it is far, far better than being around _my father_," the words were hissed with a black hatred, "Living my childhood, years full of nothing but pain, misery, death, blood… far, far better. I want her to live a normal childhood, not like me. But I don't know the first thing about raising children. You do. And don't tell me otherwise. Don't make me beg you, Michael. Because I will."

"_I should tell him,_" thought the armadillo, "He needs to know." But, looking at his expression… he couldn't bring himself to. If Knuckles knew that all his best efforts, everything he did, were a waste…

Mighty couldn't do it. So instead, weakly, he said:

"Anashi… please… I… can't…"

"Michael. I don't know how to raise a child. I can't raise her on my own. Far too much has happened. If you push her away now, it'll break her heart."

"Anashi.…"

"Michael. I'm asking you," he gritted his teeth, scowling, "No. I'm _begging_ you. Help me raise her. Between the two of us, I'm sure we can manage."

Mighty turned away, glancing off into the distant. He was silent. His heart churned as he glanced at the little echidna.

She stirred slightly in Knuckles's arms, but remained asleep.

"_What should I do…?_" He wasn't even sure who or what that thought was directed at… someone who could tell him what to do. He couldn't tell them. Either of them. He couldn't raise her, either. But he couldn't push her way.

"Mighty."

A long pause. And then, sighing.

"All right. I'll help. But if she dies… don't blame me. I warned you."

He turned back around, and Knuckles nodded, and then, with a hint of a rare, genuine smile, he said:

"Thank you, Michael."

---

His eyes smouldered, and Kragok clutched his wrist tightly as the appendage was attached. The doctors had cleaned up the wound and replaced his hand with a large, gleaming, metallic claw. Though still furious, Kragok was pleased with the new limb. It was stainless, deadly… and had many features.

The doctor finished the operation, and Kragok tested his new hand, opening and closing the hand, He took a tray- the tray that had held his food, and snapped it in half.

"This will be your neck, brat," he hissed. What the Guardian had done to Dimitri was not his concern, but it had angered him all the same. But… what the Guardian's little brat-of-a-sister had done to him…

Was totally inexcusable.

He clenched the mechanical fist tightly, and both his cybernetic and natural eyes flashed with a deep hatred.

"I will make sure you pay dearly for this the next time we meet, BRAT."


	3. Chapter 2: The Descent

Sonic the Hedgehog, etc, are © to Sega.  
Eliza and all other fancharacters are © to me.  
**Eliza is pronounced é-lee-za**, the other pronunciation is oogly.  
This instalment has a few elements of Sonic 3 and Knuckles in it. This was not really intentional, but my version of S3K was different from the game, so this is a bit more like that probably because of that. It compensates, or something.

**  
**

Sonic the Hedgehog awoke with a pounding headache.

He was groggy, sluggish, and found it very hard to move. Worse than that, it seemed his brain was in worse shape than he was, he remembered absolutely nothing.

He attempted to open his eyes, failed miserably, and let out a small, quiet groan, twitching his fingers. He felt something grab him and shove him upright none-too-gently.

His eyes fluttered open then, trying to focus on his surroundings.

"So you're finally awake," came a deep, icy voice, and Sonic recognized it as Knuckles's.

"Knux," he mumbled, attempting to move, and failing miserably. Something rattled and the hedgehog realized that he was chained.

Finally, his sight returned to him, and he could see the chains. Knuckles was in front of him, his restraints thicker. They were both in a plain, thankfully clean cell.

"What happened?"

"We were captured," came the blunt response, but Sonic knew better than to get frustrated.

"By who?"

"Metal Sonic."

Sonic shifted again, this time uncomfortably.

"He's not here," stated the echidna, "He left."

"Where?"

"The Floating Island."

More rattling, and the Guardian seized one of Sonic's chains in one hand. He gritted his teeth, and there was a sound of snapping metal.

The chains went slack, and some of them fell off.

"Spindash," instructed the echidna.

"But it'll–"

"Spindash."

He was fixed with a dark glare, and so he obeyed. His body was sore and throbbing, but he managed to curl himself up.

A screeching noise filled the air, followed by the sound of tearing metal, and then he was free. The remaining links clattered to the ground, and he rubbed his arm gingerly.

"What about you, Knux?"

"I've already tried."

"I'll find the–"

The echidna cut him off sharply.

"No. Listen carefully. Metal Sonic has gone to the Floating Island. He's after the Master Emerald. Most likely, he's planning to track my sister to the Hidden Palace."

"You have a sister?"

His eyes narrowed.

"Yes, Hedgehog," he said icily, giving him his infamous '_Shut up, Hedgehog'_ look, "My sister. Go down there, stop Metal."

"Will you be fine on your own?"

"Yes. But, Hedgehog-"

Hard violet met soft emerald.

"If you let anything happen to either my sister or the Master Emerald, I will kill you. Slowly and painfully."

Anashi's eyes flashed, and Sonic knew that without a doubt, he was serious. He sighed.

"Yes, Red, I know."

"Don't call me that."

A pause, and then, almost timidly, the hedgehog asked: "…Are you sure?"

"Go!" snapped the Guardian.

He gave the echidna a final worried look, and then took off running.

**The Descent**

Angel Island, in all its luscious, tropical beauty, stretched out before him.

"Shame I'm not coming here for vacation," he murmured to himself. He made a mental note to return to the island at a later date.

But for now… vacationing would have to wait, he was on a mission now.

He forced himself to slow down to a walk, and glanced around him.

This place was bringing back memories. The buzz of insects filled his ears, as did the chirps of some, unidentified bird.

There was no one in sight.

He progressed on, walking impatiently. He hated walking.

The island was huge. How was he going to find one little girl? … Or one not-so-little robot …

He suddenly became aware of a pair of yellow eyes watching him. Coils of purple and yellow were wrapped around the thick branches of an oak tree. It was a cobra, and it was watching him intently.

He took on a wary stance, grimacing.

The cobra curled away from him, intimidated.

"Yo," Sonic tried, and there was silence. Then the cobra raised its head.

"Hello." Its voice was cultured, though it sounded a little frightened.

"What's up?"

Sonic stepped forward, and it inched away.

"Are you going to hurt me? I.. I wasn't doing anything, I was just lying here..!"

"Nah, don't worry, s'long as you're not harming anyone, it's fine. What's your name?"

"Anodyne," he responded.

Sonic gave him a grin.

"My name's Sonic."

"Sonic…? Sonic the Hedgehog?"

"That's me."

"Oh, thank Lumien you're here! I don't want to sound rude, but this young Guardian… I'm not sure she can do the job… she's young, and small… I think her name is Elise or something like that."

"Knuckles's sister?"

"Yes, that's the one…"

"What's the problem?"

"There are many… but here, I'll show you."

Anodyne uncurled and dropped to the ground, slithering across, beckoning for the hedgehog to follow with his tail.

"Everyone saw Metal Sonic capture Knuckles, some people thought it was you… I knew it wasn't, though. Robots are attacking everywhere, the people are panicking, and… a colony of rabbits thought it was my family, and attacked them…"

Sonic pushed back a veil of leaves as the cobra disappeared through it.

Blurts of colour, yellow, purple, brown, and one red, were flitting around in his vision. He surged forwards, eyes locked on the red.

The browns, rabbits, were attacking the snakes, the yellow and purples. The red was an echidna, perhaps, with any luck, Knuckles's younger sister. The echidna was in the middle of the fight, and from the looks of it, trying to break it up.

A few of the rabbits lunged for the echidna, but it dodged, and the snakes formed a wall between them, gently, but firmly, pushing them back.

The echidna started to speak loudly, and the voice was most definitely feminine. The rabbits snapped back, but she drowned them out, going as far as to whack one on the head. Then, sounds of grumbling, and the rabbits left. The snakes thanked her, and then Sonic hopped down.

"Hey!"

She looked up, and he stopped in front of her.

She was small, and skinny. She came up to his thigh, and she was red all over, like Knuckles. He was relieved to see the Guardian mark on her chest. Her eyes, unlike Knuckles's, were blue, and they were wide and round. She regarded him with a strange, thoughtful look.

"Are you Sonic the Hedgehog?"

"Yep! And you're Knuckles's sister? I've been looking for you—Hey, where are you going!"

She ran away, and dove into the vines. He followed, calling after her, but she didn't stop, instead speeding up. The vines were thick, and sticky, they slowed him down, and several times he had to tug himself free. Finally, the hedgehog found himself caught in the vines. He wriggled, but could not break out. The echidna appeared above him, standing casually on one.

"Why…? Hey, I'm stuck, kid, can you help me out?"

"Where's my brother?" she demanded, coldly.

"What? He's on the ship…"

"What have you done with him!"

"I haven't done anything–"

"Don't lie to me!" she spat, "I saw you kidnap him!"

"It wasn't me, it was–"

"Do you think I'm stupid!"

He felt his temper welling up as he struggled, to no avail, to free himself.

"Yes, obviously! If you believe that I–"

She gave him the icy glare that he usually received from Knuckles.

"Will you tell me where he is or not?"

"I told you already–"

"No, then?"

"Let me out of here, you little brat!"

"No, then." Her voice was strangely calm as she spoke, but her eyes shone with anger. He had made her mad, good, because he was now mad himself.

"Let me go."

His voice went strangely icy, but then the girl, Eliza, gave him a cold smile, and slammed her foot on the vine. The ground beneath him opened, and then the vines released him at last. With no ground or vines to support him, the hedgehog plunged down with a yell.

The colours blurred and then faded into black. He plunged down until finally, something broke his fall. It was a liquid of some sort, the hedgehog realized with a shudder. It felt like water, but seemed thicker, slimier.

It was dark all around him, and he struggled and flailed, trying to get to the surface.

He couldn't swim. He hated water.

His feet reached the bottom, and he bent his knees and sprung. The liquid clung to his fur as he moved, but he broke though it, took a gulp of air, and landed on what he could only assume was ground. It was moist, but form. Something was stuck to him. He swatted and tugged at it, but it would not come off.

He trudged up the slope, struggling as he did so, pawing at himself, but it made no difference. He squinted at the darkness, saw nothing, and continued.

There was a faint hiss in the air, and his ears pricked up. He stretched his arms, but felt nothing but air. He continued in his haphazard way, and then finally became aware of the soft hissing that was becoming louder.

Something wrapped around his ankles, and he yelped, falling forward. His face, didn't, however, hit the ground. It instead contacted with something smooth, cold, and rubbery. More hissing, and something slid beneath him.

His heart skipped a beat.

A snake pit. He was in a snake pit. The brat had dropped him into a snake pit.

Sonic felt coils beginning to wrap around his arms, legs, chest…

Adrenaline kicked in, and he yelped once more, struggling wildly as more coins encircled him. He could see brief flashes of faces and dim outlines of figures now, there were snakes, many of them, and they were hungry.

He tried to curl up but the snakes would not let him, they pushed their weight unto him, beginning to flatten him and suffocate him against their coils.

There was more hissing, but he could not make it out. Sounds and colours were now swimming around in his head, exploding into fiery kaleidoscopes that engulfed all of his senses. He gasped for oxygen but received none. There was a pounding in his head that he could not seem to ignore or get rid of. Noises, colours, smells, touches… began to fade.

Someone had once told Sonic that before someone dies, they see their life flash before them.

And yet nothing was happening other than the fading.

_Because you are NOT going to die!_ A little voice, perhaps his voice of reason, broke through all the fog and the fading. _The fate of the Floating Island, hell, the entire planet is resting upon your shoulders and all you're going to do is lie down and die! What the hell are you thinking! _

A pause. One that seemed to last an eternity.

And then something began to well up inside of him. His face twisted into a grimace.

_… Sonic the Hedgehog … _

"Will not be killed by a bunch of scaled nobodies!"

The hedgehog curled up then, and shot himself forward. The hissing became loud and angry as he ripped through them, tearing himself free from their grips. Then, shaking off the bits and pieces of the snakes that clung to him, he ran, panting.

The grime had hardened, and was now crumbling off of him as he ran, blindly, but surely. He could barely here the snakes pursuing him, the hissing, the scratching noise produced from their scales slithering along with the ground. He was too busy running. Finally, he met more than air, he met a wall, but didn't stop him. He had curled into a ball again and was spindashing. Sonic did indeed contact with the wall, but instead of knocking him flat, it broke open as he slammed into it, and the hedgehog hurled himself into daylight, into oxygen.

It nearly blinded him, but he welcomed it, finally landing in the grass. He breathed a deep sigh of relief, and brushed off the remaining piece of snakeskin. It was a dull green. They must have been garden snakes. He was nearly killed by garden snakes.

There was a small pool of water nearby, and so the hedgehog, after regarding it with suspicion, entered it. It was shallow, and though he hated water, he cleaned himself off in it, and then shook himself dry. The teenager sat in the grass for several minutes, until his breathing returned to normal. None of the snakes tried to follow him. Finally, he stood up, and took a minute to examine his surroundings. Aged structures, large hills, emerald green grass. There was no doubt about it.

He was in Marble Gardens.

It had been months since he had been here last, back when Dr. Robotnik had crashed the Death Egg upon it, and had banded together with Knuckles the Echidna, who made it clear that he never liked Sonic, even from his reputation, to try and kill him and Tails. And they had built Metal Sonic.

It seemed like a lifetime ago. He had a faint recollection of the place, but could not recognize exactly where he was. It was probably a part he hadn't explored yet, or perhaps he had just forgotten.

He remembered why he was here, and started to jog. As beautiful as Marble Gardens was, it was notorious for earthquakes, and that was the last thing he needed. Besides, the sooner he found the brat, the better…

Thoughts of Eliza made him clench his fists and grit his teeth. She had really tried to kill him! And despite how cold and calculating she seemed when she saw her, he could have sworn he saw fear in her eyes as well. That was probably why. She wasn't going to take any chances. Well, now that she had left him for dead… she would probably be heading back to the Hidden Palace. And Metal was probably close by, watching her.

The thought made him shiver. He was angry and didn't like her much, but she didn't deserve that fate.

"_But where is she…?" _

The echidna in question was perched upon a ruined column, regarding him with a slightly worried, yet mostly fierce gaze. How had he survived…? And in such good condition…? This was going to be harder than she had first thought.

It was the running… she needed to stop him from running. His greatest advantage was his speed.

A small smile crept across her muzzle.

Blistering heat stopped all things from moving. How convenient that she knew a secret passageway that led to Sandopolis.

How convenient that Sonic was now heading that way.

He was jogging lightly, or his idea of jogging lightly, so, by running, she could keep up with him... barely.

He stopped maybe twenty feet from the cave, and turned around to inspect. She darted out of his view just as he turned. She slipped inside the cave and then smiled, backing up into the darkness, until it nearly engulfed her.

"Hedgehog!" she called, and his head snapped around at once.

"There you are! Listen–"

"First you have to catch me. Can't you, with your speed?" It was a taunt, an attack on his ego, and again the hedgehog clenched his fists.

"We don't have time to play around! If you would just…"

He trailed off as he realized she was gone. Sonic hissed a curse under his breath and ran after her, into the darkness, yet again, into the darkness.

He couldn't run in the cave, or even jog, he soon realized. So, the hedgehog had to settle for a light sprint. He could see flashes of the echidna as he pursued her, and he gritted his teeth. He was losing patience with this kid.

Eliza smiled grimly and pressed herself forward. Sonic screeched to a halt.

Six pathways stared him in the face.

And the little Guardian was nowhere to be found.

He cursed under his breath, and ran into the middle tunnel.

---

It was the heat that hit him first.

Choking, blazing, suffocating.

Then it was the light.

Blinding, burning, searing.

Then it was the Skorp badnik.

Its tail lashed out and wrapped around Sonic's neck, flinging him into the ground and applying crushing pressure to his throat. The hedgehog gagged.

His fingers wedged around the tail of the Skorp, and he tugged at it, gasping for breath.

From the corner of his eye, Sonic saw the end of the tail gleaming, with a bit of liquid beading up at the top. It twisted to face him, and his eyes widened.

The tip of the tail snapped forward, and frantically, a moment before the poison would have contacted with his body, Sonic had spindashed, and ripped it apart.

The tail fell limp, and the hedgehog only uncurled when he was forty feet away.

There, he panted, clutching at his throat, and began to stagger. The sand was scalding, slippery and thick. It was nearly impossible for him to run, so, he walked.

His chest shifted as he breathed, and he rubbed his throat a little.

The sun had climbed to its highest peak, baking him, and Sonic suddenly found himself wishing that he was bald.

Something shimmered in the distant stand, and the hedgehog's eyes lit up.

Water!

His throat was quickly parching, and so the Hedgehog rushed for it, as fast as he possibly could albeit the circumstances, and he stumbled.

"Sonic!" came a reedy, toned voice that he knew, but couldn't place, "What are you doing?"

He craned his next around, and sure enough, Charmy Bee was above him, his wings beating impossibly fast. He had to stop himself from staring at them, they were a blur, and it was nearly hypnotic.

"Espio told me that he saw you."

Sonic licked his lips, trying to wet his throat.

He felt something slip under his arms and hoist him up.

"I have to go to Marble Gardens, but if you're looking for Eliza, she's probably at Ice Cap. I can drop you off there."

He released one of the hedgehog's arms, but only for a second. In a flash, the bee had taken out a bottle of water, and dropped it neatly in Sonic's hands.

Sonic thanked him, opened it, and downed half of it in one large, desperate gulp, smacking his lips afterwards. The air began to cool, and he breathed a sigh of relief – he liked it when it was warm, possible hot – but not sizzling.

Sandopolis ended, and as Charmy flew, the hedgehog decided that he would not miss it. At all.

But it did give him a short pause to reflect on the Island – it had everything, a desert, an artic, ruins, a tropical island…

His thoughts were quickly discarded as the bee dropped him neatly on the ground. Sonic nearly yelped, but he restrained himself, instead setting for brushing himself off.

"Thanks, Charmy!"

"No problem. Just head over that hill. Ice Cap is right there – it's in a chain of mountains. It's the first one, the biggest, you'll see it right away. Good luck!"

Sonic thanked him again, finished the bottle, tossed it aside, and ran. An icy wind slammed him in the face, and he hissed, cutting through it.

He was getting impatient, and rather close to losing his temper.

The first thing he was going to do was smack that brat. Then, he was going to tie her up so she couldn't move, then he was going to make sure she apologized, thoroughly.

And then, afterwards, he would deal with Metal.

Running soothed him, so, he began to calm, and mentally switched the order of events.

First, tie her up, second, deal with Metal, third, smack her silly, and then fourth, make her apologize. That sounded about right.

His feet were growing numb, so, he quickened his pace.

The mountain stretched out before him, the entrance wide, and black, like the mouth of some gigantic, hideous beast. Fearless, or at least appearing so, he entered.

As soon as he was inside, he started to skid. The hedgehog flailed, slipped, and then his knees contacted with something hard, and cold.

A mechanical screech followed, and then shrapnel surged through the air.

"More badniks," thought the hedgehog, "Great, that's just what I need."

He faintly remembered robots of this sort, mockeries of penguins.

As he looked around, he noticed there weren't that many robots – someone must have been there before him. And recently, there was still some wreckage lying around…

He continued, slowly, cautiously, as to not slip. A few of the penguins did not sense him, the others shrieked and threw themselves against the ground. Their engines ignited and they slid for him, but he leaped up, and spindashed into them, using them as a pathway. Once they were all destroyed, the hedgehog soared through the air, flailing once more.

Sonic did indeed slam into the ground, on his stomach, and the momentum and lack of friction caused him to keep sliding. This time, he did yelp, and struggled to get to his feet.

His scrambling only increased his speed of sliding, and the teenager suddenly became aware of the icy slope. Again, a yelp, one that echoed through the mountain, and he rolled down.

Once again, he tried to get up, but it did him no good. He sighed, closed his eyes, and waited for impact.

The slope was over in seconds, and he skidded across the ice at the bottom.

Finally, the hedgehog came to a stop, a rather abrupt one, as he slammed, face first, into a mound of snow. It was soft, but thick, so he went through it, but it stopped him. His nose poked out at the other end, and he shivered and coughed, totally covered in snow.

Muttering a swear word, the hedgehog staggered to his feet, only barely managing to remain upright. He brushed the snow from his fur, and slowly began to walk, looking about him. It was mostly open face, with rather large, but sturdy looking, icicles hanging twenty feet above him. Under him, a thick layer of ice, and under that, probably water. He shivered at the thought, wondering if anyone had been unfortunate to have fallen through the ice.

He spent a few seconds imagining it, and then decided that those few seconds were too much. There was a cliff of sorts in front of him, and no other passageways. It looked deserted.

He briefly considered calling out, but, after giving the icicles another glance, decided against it. The sound would probably not make them fall, but he didn't particularly want to take any chances. He slowly began to approach the cliff. It was very steep – he didn't know how he could climb it. Running was too dangerous, but perhaps–

"Hedgehog!" The voice, young, and feminine, interrupted his thoughts, and he snapped his head up, searching for it.

Eliza, giving him a smirk that reminded him entirely too much of Knuckles, one he really didn't like – was spread across her muzzle, and she was looking as smug as the child of a rich parent on Christmas morning.

"Eliza!" He returned, clenching his fist.

"The Snowhog look is nice on you, Hedgehog," the echidna drawled, the smirk spreading.

"You brat! I came here to save you and your precious island, and this is how you treat me?"

She scoffed.

"I may be a child, but I'm not stupid! Don't underestimate me, blue boy, or it'll be your funeral!"

She leaned over a little.

"Literally!"

Behind the expression, Eliza hoped that her act was working. He didn't seem too intimidated, but, on the bright side, her acting fooled him.

"Big words for such a runt," returned the hedgehog.

"Alright," thought the Guardian, "Time to bring out the big guns."

She picked up a remote control, and thumbed the detonator button. There was a flurry of explosions. The icicles, being cut off, hung in midair for a split-second, and then, with all the force of a typhoon, came crashing down upon the hedgehog.

Sonic had gained a smirk of his own, and dodged them as he fell. The action caused him to run in a little circle, and then finally, after all of them had fallen, he turned to leer back up at the Guardian.

"Was that the best you can do? All misses!"

Eliza, however, did not lose her smirk, and much to his irritation, it widened, again.

"Look beneath you, hedgehog."

A second after, the sound of cracking ice filled the air, and with a panicky expression, he looked down.

Too little, too late, Sonic realized what was happening. He tried to run, slipped, and then plunged down into the icy water.

Another yelp, louder this time, and then the water engulfed him completely.

The echidna adopted a smug look as she watched him disappear, and then afterwards, she let out a short sigh of relief.

"Well then, now that that's finally over…"

She brushed herself off and headed towards the Hidden Palace.

And far above her, a pair of red eyes gleamed.

---

Sonic only screamed and flailed for a short time, for the water swept over his body, and as the seconds ticked by, and the surface became farther and farther away, his body stopped complying. At first his mind was filled with visions of just what he was going to do to that brat if he survived, which was highly unlikely. But then a numbness began to spread across him, and as his bones and tendons were chilled, he felt his eyelids, that felt so heavy, slipping. At first the pressure was nearly crushing, but now he could barely feel it, and the water rushing around him became a gentle lull.

And then, something ripped through the water. He barely felt his arm being grasped by something, barely felt all the commotion in the water as the pressure diminished and the surface came closer. His eyes were shut, and even as his saviour broke the water and leapt onto dry surface, a cavern full of warm rock, he felt nothing.

"Sonic!"

The noise was garbled and distorted, and then, he became vaguely aware of something shaking him. He felt something being pressed to his lips, and then a steaming hot liquid gushing down his throat. Instantly, his eyes snapped open, and warmth flooded back into him as the liquid trickled down his throat. Images came into focus, and Vector the Crocodile was sitting in front of him, holding a cup of something hot to his lips, and tipping it so that it cascaded down. He grasped the cup and gulped it down until there was nothing, and then shivered and shook himself.

"W-who a-are y-you…?"

His teeth were chattering.

"Eh'm Vecter th' Crocodile, of the Chaotix. Nice te meetcha. That t'was was quite some fall, ya okay there, hedgie?"

Sonic nodded, brushing her fur off.

"Th-thanks… what was that you gave me?"

"Oh, one of meh mom's recipes, spicy cider."

Sonic suddenly jolted upright.

"Eliza… where is she!"

His memories flooded back to him, and he clenched his fists.

"When I get my hands on her I SWEAR TO–"

Vector side-eyed him, then rubbed his chin.

"Mm… it's her shift ta guard the Emerald, so th'kid is probably…"

Sonic's rage disappeared in an instant, instead replaced by horror.

"Take me there!"

"Hey, hey, hold yer horses, I can't just–"

"Metal's tracking her," his tone was dead serious, "Take me there. Now."

Vector stared at Sonic, and then nodded.

"Alright… follow me."

He took off at a run and Sonic followed, chest tightening. He only hoped he could make it in time.

---

Eliza greeted the Master Emerald by pressing her hands against it, and letting out a happy sigh. She wasn't sure why she had suddenly gotten so angry with the hedgehog, it was like something inside of her… by instinct… hated him. She felt like she had known him (and disliked him), but she had never met him before in her life. It was almost as if someone else was inside her, convinced to kill him… She shook her head and stared back at the shining green gem.

"I guess I'm not as bad as a Guardian as I thought," she murmured to the emerald, "I just wish 'Nashi would get back…"

Her smile slipped at that. She wasn't sure she liked this new 'Nashi, but she would feel a lot better if he was back... and okay. Sonic hadn't told her anything about what had happened to him… he might have been hurt… or worse.

She sniffed a little, and as she did, she caught a whiff of something – exhaust. She whirled around, and then her eyes widened.

A robot. Dark blue, thing, with sharp spines, blood red eyes, and long, skeletal claws. His (it looked male) palms were yellow, as was the engine intake in his stomach. His arms were thin, and silver, and in the light, he looked quite frightening. Her blood ran cold. She stared.

" …What…"

She opened her mouth, and then closed it again. He was a robot, and it was quite obvious how he had gotten here – by following her. She mentally slapped herself.

"Greetings," he said in a neutral voice, "I am Metallix Series Oh-Two, Metal Sonic. I thank you for both leading me here and disposing of the hedgehog – you have saved me a great deal of trouble."

More staring.

… Metal Sonic …? Was this … …

It sunk in. She winced. She had analyzed, built a strategy against, and… probably killed… the wrong guy. Flashes of memories; hadn't he tried to tell her? She felt so stupid! Not only had she eliminated her only hope, she had led the enemy right to the Master Emerald! And she had no idea how to beat him.

It occurred to her that she was off her guard, and quickly disguised her expression, biting her lip.

"If you step aside I will allow you to live."

She clenched her fists and slipped into a battle pose.

"You are going to fight…?"

She didn't answer; her mind was going a mile a minute. If he was really based off of Sonic, then he must have had the super-speed, not to mention robotic durability, a computer for a brain… ohh, she was so totally and completely screwed. She couldn't even move around too much, because his objective was the Emerald… what was she going to do?

She gave no answer except to scowl at him.

"Mobians are so illogical. Very well. I gave you the opportunity."

If she could stall him, then eventually one of the other Chaotix would come along, and surely, they would know what to do… but how to do so? She needed to shift his attention off the emerald and onto her… Make him angry, of course! But how was she going to do that?

"_Trial and error, then, I guess it is…_"

Metal eyed her impassively.

"This island is pitiful if its best defence is a little girl."

Her eyes blazed, but that was the only reaction.

"What have you done with my brother, you overgrown toaster?" she demanded, forcing steel into her voice. Attempt number one. He didn't react.

"If you are curious perhaps you should return with me."

His eyes gave her what she could only assume was a hint of a menacing smile, since he had no mouth.

Now for attempt number two. "I would, except I'd rather die than look at your face for any longer."

Again, nothing. "Perhaps your juvenile insults will work on Ss- the hedgehog, but I can assure you that my intellect is far too high for that."

So he was arrogant. Good, if he underestimated her he would let his guard down. Also, was that Sonic's name that he had started to hiss? That gave her an idea. Time for attempt number three.

"So you're supposed to Sonic's equal, then? Wow, what a joke."

His eye twitched. She allowed herself an internal smirk.

_Jackpot! _

"I am the hedgehog's superior."

She laughed.

"You're nothing but a cheap rip off."

He struck so fast she almost didn't see his movement. However, she had prepared for a fast attack, so she just narrowly dodged, his claws nicking her shoulder – she danced back, adopting the Knuckles smirk.

"What's the matter? Is the poor little weakling copy getting angry?"

His eyes flashed, and he lunged for her again.

"I have no tolerance for your insolence."

The sound of his voice gave her a general idea of the direction he was coming in, so she threw herself to the ground and rolled away. Well, she had got him angry now, onto level two. Now she just had to stay alive and keep him angry until help came, or she found out some other weakness she could exploit.

And that was harder than it sounded.

It seemed to her that each of his attacks was a little faster than the previous one, or maybe that was just her reaction time… It was becoming more and more difficult to dodge. And he was a robot, he wouldn't tire… If she could only damage that engine intake, somehow.

She gasped out as his claws scraped down her back. He grabbed for her, but she dodged, leaping onto his stomach. She jammed her hands inside it, and concentrated. It was hot, but she only barely felt it through her gloves. Metal prepared to swipe for her again, but then froze. They had both began to glow green, and he felt something strange happening. The electricity flowing through the wires jammed up, and he let out a hiss. His left hand fell limply to his side, but he forced his right one to move. Sparks appeared, but he grabbed her by the hair, tore her off, and flung her across the room.

She slammed into the wall, gasped, and then fell down. His body corrected himself, and then he noticed the emerald glowing. It was pulsating, basking the room in the same shade of green as had been surrounding them earlier. And he remembered his objective.

As did the little echidna, because she shakily got to her feet and ran for the emerald.

Naturally, he was faster, and brought his clenched fist to the back of her head. She contacted with the ground, then slumped, unconscious.

He turned back to the Master Emerald.

An empty pedestal greeted him.

He twisted his head to glance back down at him, and then scanned the room. Nothing. No hint of any power, or any emerald.

And then…

A strong breeze tore through the room, and a ball of blue spikes lurched through the air, right into Metal's chest. He flew back, and Sonic uncurled, and kicked off from him, giving the robot an annoyingly smug grin.

"Long time no see, chrome dome."

Metal's eyes flashed, and he clawed for Sonic's shoulder. The hedgehog jerked out of the way, but Metal had gotten a scratch.

"What have you done with the Emerald, hedgehog?" demanded the robot, a snarl in his voice.

"I was just about to ask you that!"

Sonic lunged again, Metal attempted to dodge, but he failed. Sonic slammed his foot into Metal's optics. The glass shattered.

_The Master Emerald is not here. That is my first objective. However…_

A tactical retreat was in order. But he would not return empty handed. Sonic steeled himself for an attack and circled around the Metallix unit.

Metal fired up his engines, and, to the hedgehog's surprise – didn't attack. Instead, he snatched the unconscious echidna.

_The next best thing._

He spared Sonic one smug glance, and then was gone.

The hedgehog froze, and stared after him.

"… He wasn't supposed to do that … "

Vector winced.

"GAH! Why the heck…!"

The crocodile shrugged.

"Knux did something to move the Emerald or summit… as fer Metal… well, all I know is that… man, hedgie, Knux is gonna kill yeh!"

"You think I don't know that!"

"Yeh probably do, I was just reminding ya."

"I... hey, Vector, you can fly a plane, right?"

"Yeah…" he adopted a suspicious look, "Why?"

"If you fly me to Metal's ship I can save her!"

"No! No way! I'm not risking my neck because yew screwed up!"

"Vector, please!"

"No! Ah've already done enough, I'mma get in trouble for bringing you down here in the first place!"

"Fine… then I guess… I'll just have leave her there… that poor girl, all alone with Metal…" he gave a melodramatic sigh, and Vector bit his lip. "Who knows what he'll do to her… she must be so scared… and crying… yes…"

"Alright, alright!" The crocodile pawed at his eyes. "That poor kid! She can be kinda bratty sometimes, but…!"

He puffed out his chest.

"Follow me!"

Sonic grinned.

"Now that's more like it!"

"Yew owe me for this, hedgie! And just fer the record, she doesn't cry."

"Whatever! I was having a moment here!"

He took off at a sprint, and Vector had to run just to keep him in his sights.

"Hedgehogs…"

---

Of all the headaches Eliza had had in her life, this one had to be the worst. She regained consciousness with it pounding at her head, and because of it, it took her a minute to regain her senses. The first thing she noticed was that she was in an uncomfortable position, standing, but leaning against something cold and smooth. Plexiglas, she discovered. The second was that the air inside it was stuffy, and the third, that through the Plexiglas in front of her, Metal Sonic was regarding her with interest. For a moment, she froze. This seemed so familiar, and not in a pleasant way. She strained her mind for any memories, but she could find none-

And then, suddenly, a flash in her mind. There was a tube, much like this, a leering face, and then, pain. The image scared her far more than it should have. It was like–

And then it was gone, and another face, not the leering one, not even close – was watching her.

She jolted upright as their eyes met, the back of her head banging against the plexiglass. She hissed a little, rubbed it, and then examined her surroundings. They were in a laboratory or some sort, obviously, she was in a tube, and Metal was standing, first glancing at her, then down at machinery near him, then at a screen. Her heart was pounding, and she felt rather unnerved. What was that she had just remembered?

She began to beat her fists and feet against her prison, but it did her no good. She tried to bodyslam it, various other techniques, and finally, the _Chaos Transfer_, (how did that name pop up into her head? She had never heard of it before… nor had she ever associated it to her strange ability – but suddenly it just _was!) _but it made no difference. Metal regarded her with poorly concealed amusement.

"By all means, Guardian, continue, waste your energy, show me that technique again."

She stopped, and scowled at him. He regarded her neutrally, and she continued making faces, until a minute later, when he turned away.

"You were behaving more maturely earlier, echidna. It seems you have relapsed to your childish persona."

She didn't grace him with an answer, but instead, let out a few breaths on the glass, fogging it up. Then, she traced out "You suck." with her finger, and waited for him to respond. He looked again within a few minutes, and then turned back to the machines.

"Your ability to store and manipulate Chaos intrigues me. I have seen it before, in the hedgehog, in the Guardian… though I have never seen anyone transfer it. Or store so much. I may not even need the Master Emerald, if I can find a way to tap into you…"

The little echidna decided she didn't like this conversation.

"We will be spending much time together from now on, Guardian. The hedgehog cannot reach you–"

And as if triggered, klaxons started blaring.

The little echidna shot him a smug grin.

"You were saying?"

"I will return."

"Tell him to go home! I don't need him some stupid wannabe hero to save me!"

But she was speaking to the air, for he was already gone.

---

"This is as far as I go, hedgie."

"And it's far enough. Thanks Vec!"

"Good luck, y'psycho!"

Vector waved, and dipped the aircraft back down. Sonic returned the gesture, and then spindashed into the ship.

He was greeted by the blaring of klaxons, and a group of badniks whirled around to fire at him.

Adopting a carefree smirk, he swept though them. These ones, he knew, had no flickies, they were only empty shells. He didn't bother with them. He had to find the girl as soon as possible – he had heard stories of what Metal did to prisoners, and none of them were things he would wish upon his enemies.

Other than the badniks, he found no opposition – Metal was probably waiting for him in the same room Eliza was in. He had a vague recollection of the ship. The main room, where the kid, if not Metal, would surely be, was the biggest and most elaborate, and he was sure he would recognize once he–

"Found it!"

The doors were open, which of course was suspicious, but he was too exasperated to care. He slid in, and was greeted with a full-fledged laboratory. It only took him a minute to locate her, she was in a tube. Their eyes met, and she didn't look particularly pleased to see him.

"There you are. Where's Metal?"

She ignored him, seeming to glance past him in a disinterested manner.

"Kid."

He was beginning to lose patience.

She opened her mouth, closed it again, and then her eyed widened a fraction, and she pointed.

"Behind you!"

He whirled around and jumped out of the way, heart leaping into his throat, and he turned to find…

Nothing.

She started to laugh, and he turned back to glare at her.

"You should have seen your face!"

He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist.

"Listen, you–"

The laugher ceased abruptly, and she turned to glare at him.

"Go home, stupid hero boy! I don't need some wannabe bigshot to come save me, I can manage on my own!"

She bared her teeth at him in what she had hoped was a nasty grimace.

"Go and get killed like all you stupid heroes do!"

There was passion in her voice, mingled with something else… bitterness?

He saw her eyes flick to the left, and he tried to follow her gaze, but it was at that moment that a rather heavy object slammed into his side. The hedgehog was sent sprawling, almost slamming into a wall, but he caught himself just in time.

"I was wondering when you'd show up," smirked Sonic in a display of bravado, mostly fake, for his heart had dropped into his stomach.

"Hedgehog."

Metal pointed his plasma cannon at him.

"Die."

A shot; Sonic dodged out of the way with ease.

"Maybe later."

He curled up into a ball and launched himself at Metal. Metal dodged, but Sonic turned and lunged for his side. There was the squeal of tearing titanium, and then Metal pulled away, and slammed his fist through the tube; the plexiglass shattered and turned to sand as it fell. Metal snatched Eliza in one hand, narrowly dodging another attack from the hedgehog.

He cursed under his breath as Metal exited the room, and chased after him. The little Guardian was silent, but she gave him a glare that reminded him entirely too much of Knuckles as they ran.

He had to jerk his head a few times to keep from staring, that glare was distracting him from Metal. Metal pulled up ahead, his eyes smiling. They flashed, and then the hallway that they were running from lit with explosions.

Sonic gasped and threw up a hand to shield his eyes, but Metal was unbothered, and pressed on his speed. Dust and debris flew everywhere, and the hedgehog found himself having to dodge chunks of the ceiling and as he dogged Metal's heels.

He soon found himself losing sight of Metal, and that was when twin pinpricks of red light appeared beside him, and a metallic fist slammed into his stomach.

The wind was knocked out of him, and he lost his footing, the force of the hit sweeping him off his feet and slamming him into one of the remaining upstanding walls. And then there was another explosion, and the ceiling collapsed onto of him.

Eliza, for the first time since her capture, gasped and looked frightened. Metal's eyes glowed, and he hissed in delight, tightening his grip ever-so-slightly.

"Hedgehog!" the little echidna squeaked in alarm, and the robot tightened his grip in satisfaction.

"Hedgehog. Your meddling ends now, as of this moment I will no longer–"

But Sonic could no longer hear him.

The world was fading again and the voice was blazing in his head as the debris weighed down upon him. Every inch of his body was in pain, it paralysed him, kept him rooted to the ground.

Thoughts and memories were swirling around in the hedgehog's head now, as he struggled to move. The air was being sharply expelled from his body. He saw faces, eyes, heard voices, bits and pieces of everything he had done, everything he had experienced. And as they became more and more recent, sharper, emblazoning themselves before his eyes, one thought stood out above all the others.

_It can't end like this._

At first it was only the voice. The little voice of reason that had spurred him in the snake pit, the instinct that had pushed him to make split-second decisions and movements that had before saved not only his life, but others, as well.

But as it repeated itself over and over in his head, his mental inferno, he found that he was beginning to think it too. And it was weak at first, barely a whisper in his mind, a whisper by his lips, but as he repeated it, it became louder, and with more conviction, and then finally -

"IT CAN'T END LIKE THIS!"

As he shouted the words, something happened. His emotions, that had all been in a flurry a moment ago, seemed to burst. And then everything became distorted and fuzzy. There was an explosion, but he only faintly heard it.

Through the haze he heard Eliza yell out, and then clarity returned with a bang.

The debris had somehow exploded – a large piece of shrapnel had stabbed Metal through his stomach. He had dropped Eliza somewhere along the way, because she was now on her feet and holding onto a piece of the wall. There was a gaping hole now, and he found himself having to hang onto a remaining part of the wall as well.

The rest was a blur.

One second Metal Sonic was yanking out the rubble with his claws, and the next, he had tackled the teenager, eyes blazing like headlights.

The robot said nothing as he dug his claws into Sonic's sides and they both plunged down, but it didn't need to be said. His eyes told him everything.

_If I am going down, you will go down with me, Hedgehog. _

The wind howled and tore at them, and he tried to break free, but Metal had the clinging power of a leech as well as an unbreakable grip. Sonic gritted his teeth. His eyes were watering from staring into Metal's eyes, and from the air ripping at them.

And then, Metal shifted. Something had slammed into him, something small, something red.

A soft green glow enveloped them, and then Sonic felt the pressure lessen, the claws detach. Metal convulsed a few times, and then let go entirely.

They separated.

Eliza was holding onto Metal, but the green was dissipating, she was now squirming and trying to get free. He was heavier, so he was falling faster, and losing his grip, but he dug claws into both of her sides as he did.

She let out a sharp yelp as his claws tore through her flesh, and then -

Sonic hit the water, and he lost sight of them. His body stung from the impact, and the salty water ate at his eyes. He only barely managed to keep them open.

He heard something, muffled and distorted – an explosion?

Seconds later, something dark and flat shot down towards him…

_Part of the ship, maybe…?_

As it came, he planted his feet against it, and pushed with all his strength.

The hedgehog broke through the surface, again, flinging his body through the air. He, of course, landed in the water again, but he managed to latch onto a large piece of what he could only assume was wall. Land was nearby. He scanned for the little Guardian. She was five or so feet ahead of him, floating on her stomach. The water around her was stained red.

His heart jolted, and kicked his feet until he was near her.

"Hey...! Kid! Kid?"

She twitched briefly at the sound of his voice, turning over and spluttering out mouthfuls of water. Then she moaned.

"You okay?"

She shot him a scathing look and swam back to shore, the water tinting red as she did so. He made a face at her back and kicked after her.

Though she had lost blood, the wounds didn't seem to be as deep as he had thought. She seemed able to move around with much restriction. She did, however, grit her teeth, and as he shook himself dry, she fixed him with another Knuckles-glare.

"Little miss hypocrite," he smirked at her, and she scowled back at him fearsomely.

"Shut up! It wasn't–"

"Thanks, kid, I owe you one."

"It was only to repay my debt, you stupid hedgehog, so just shut up and go away!"

She glowered up at him, which would have been more intimidating if she was taller than the length of his legs.

It only made the entire display look, at best, cute.

Or would have been cute had she not just attempted to kick him.

It was then that he realized it.

Her moody behaviour, resentment of heroes, yet basically altruistic reactions…  
It could have only been -

He knelt down so that they were eyelevel.

"Kid, did someone die for you?"

The response was instantaneous, and just as he had expected it to be.

Her eyes widened and then narrowed again.

"Shut up! You don't know anything about me or–"

He ignored her.

"Kid, I know, it hurts… and I know that whoever it is loved you very much to have made such a sacrifice."

"That's why I said you know nothing, stupid hedgehog! If he loved me he wouldn't have died, he wouldn't have left me behind! He sh-shouldn't have .. I.. I should have been the one to–"

Her voice cracked and she fell silent.

He knelt so that he could be close to her level.

"I know how you feel."

"No you don't!"

She started to hit him, but he did his best to ignore it, and continued speaking.

"My father was a General in the Great War. He died in the last battle, and because of that, we won the war. Everyone praised him as a hero. I was too young to remember him. After Eggman took over Mobitropolis, and my mother and I barely escaped, we had a hard life. She couldn't support us, so she married a man with money, Chaymer. He abused her, and me, but more her, something awful. She even took hits for me, no matter how I begged her not to. It continued, on, and on, until, finally, one day, when I was ten, almost eleven … my mother had enough. When he rounded on me, drunk, ready to beat me for whatever stupid reason… She pleaded with him, begged him not to. He wouldn't listen, and he only hit her when she persisted. So, just as he was going to… she took a gun and shot him. And then she shot herself."

She was watching him with wide eyes now, perfectly quiet.

"I was devastated. And in denial. The first thing I did was try to revive her, started to cry… when it didn't work I curled up beside her. The police came, and I clung to her with all my strength, kept saying 'She's alive... she's just sleeping…' and in hysterics. They detached me from her, and a few days later, came the funeral. She was buried next to my father… and then, that's when I started to hate him. I cursed his name, I kicked his tombstone, I screamed all kind of horrible things at him. 'This is your fault!' was what I used to scream, 'If you hadn't gone a stupid hero and gotten yourself killed, you would have been here, and we could have all been happy! Now she's dead and it's all your fault!'"

He paused to take a breath, and she remained quiet and attentive, eyes slightly glassy.

"Then, I ran away, and I hated heroes from that point on. They were stupid, they were selfish, they claimed to care about their loved ones… and most of them died. And because of that, their loved ones, who they claimed to care about, were devastated. I hated them."

"So… why…"

"Why did I become what I hated? Because… soon afterwards, I was captured, and put into a slave labour camp. The things I saw, the things I experienced… the things I felt.. there… I hope you never will. It was horrible. Everywhere around me, there were boys, some younger than me, some older than me – suffering. Bruised, broken, bleeding, sick, miserable… Orphaned, cut off from their family, mentally unstable… heartbroken… I could go on. And I realized something. If my father hadn't made that sacrifice, the entire Mobian population would be like that. That heroes weren't just selfish fools – even if they would die, and their loved ones suffer… it was to save people. To protect. They needed a hero. So I gave them one. I wasn't the only one, Mighty did, too. And two others, friends of ours, both dead, unfortunately… Ray the Flying Squrirel and Fiona Fox. And because of that, they all escaped. Except for Ray and Fiona, unfortunately…"

She was no longer looking at him, but now at the ground, her fists clenched.

"Kid, I know it hurts… but… think about it this way… if they hadn't made that sacrifice, what would have happened?"

Silence.

"And whatever you do… don't blame yourself. It's not your fault. It was his conscience decision. He wouldn't want you to be miserable over it. He would want you to be happy and live your life to the ful–"

He stopped because she had just let out a strangled noise. She flung herself against him, and he realized that the noise was a sob, and that she was crying into his chest.

She made a few failed attempts at speaking, but he shushed her, and hugged her, rocking her slightly.

_She's just a kid, after all … _

"Let's go back, shall we? I'm sure your brother and the rest are worried about you."

She nodded, and he stood, still holding her, and began to run.

---

"So, that's all," announced the hedgehog. Mighty the Armadillo, leaning backwards against a wall, one foot planted against it, glanced up at him.

"Yes, she was devastated when Sil died… screaming and crying. I should have known she hadn't fully gotten over it…"

"It's really hard on a kid to see someone die," Sonic stated, "Especially someone they cared about. The worst part is that they feel powerless and weak, and blame themselves. They'll think things like 'If I had just…', or 'If I hadn't…' over, and over again. When Ray died, you... and me too… but you…"

"Yeah…" Mighty responded distantly, and offered no other comment.

The hedgehog changed the subject.

"She's very attached to you."

The armadillo looked up at him, expression unreadable.

"It was not my intention."

"But it happened, right? And personally, I think it's a good thing."

"You would," said Mighty quietly.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm not you. And she's not Tails. You would be well-advised to keep that in mind, Scott."

"Sonic," the hedgehog hissed, "SONIC. Don't call me that."

"It's your name."

"Not anymore, _Michael_."

The armadillo made no response to the use of his name.

"You've forgotten how to love," continued the hedgehog, "And you need to learn again. You need to love again, to be loved. You _need_ it."

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do! If you don't, bad things will happen! You'll go down a dark path! Just look at Knuckles!"

"Knuckles is the way he is for other reasons."

"This is one of them," pressed the green-eyed teenager, "And besides, you need to open your heart again. Just because–"

"Just because _what_? Just because every girl I've ever gotten close to has died, that's fine, as long as I "open my heart" and let it happen again?"

His voice had been getting colder and colder which each word, and now there was enough iciness in it to rival Metal.

"For once, Scott, think about what you're saying."

There was silence. And then…

"Why did you let her get close, then?"

The armadillo was silent for a minute. And then,

"I couldn't bring myself to reject her."

There was resentment in his tone.

"You hate her because she's attached to you… don't you!"

Following the hedgehog's accusation was a long, and pronounced silence. And then, finally -

"No. I resent myself because she's attached to me."

And with that, he left the hedgehog standing there.


End file.
